Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend 2025 set to take place May 24-25

The race weekend among top 50 marathons worldwide in terms of economic impact

May 13, 2025 (Ottawa, ON) — Canada’s largest running festival, Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend, returns on May 24–25, 2025, welcoming more than 35,000 participants across six race distances: the marathon (42.2K), half-marathon (21.1K), 10K, 5K, 2K, and the Kids Marathon (1.2K). Runners can also take on one of three multi-race challenges: the 17K, 36.1K, or 59.2K Challenge.

This year, the Ottawa Half Marathon presented by Desjardins has already attracted 11,000 registered runners—a 27% increase over 2024 participation.

Canada’s Top Marathon by Economic Impact

A recent report released by Brand Finance and endorsed by World Athletics has ranked Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend among the top 50 marathons worldwide in terms of economic impact. The event placed 18th globally and secured the top spot among the four Canadian marathons featured on the list.

The full report is available here.

New location for 2025 Running and Fitness Expo, May 22-24

One of Canada’s largest Running and Fitness Expo has found a new home at Carleton University Fieldhouse 85 University Rd in Ottawa this year. Open to the public, the three-day expo is sold out to exhibitors, with brands such as Garmin, Marsquest, Running Room, Balmoral, and Praise showcasing the latest in technology and apparel. See the complete list here. 

“We’re thrilled to unveil this exciting new venue,” says Executive Director Mike Vieira. “It offers more space for vendors, features a dedicated track for testing out new shoes, and is easily accessible via the O-Train—making it our most interactive location yet.”

Media Launch and Elite Conference

All media is invited to attend the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend Media Launch and Elite Conference on Friday, May 23, 2025, 10 a.m. on the main stage at the Running & Fitness Expo at the Carleton University Fieldhouse. Hosted by Sportsnet’s Arash Madani, this is an opportunity for questions and interviews of the conference guests and performance athletes.

If you require accreditation for the weekend, please fill out this form.

Showdown in O-Town

The 40th anniversary of the Ottawa 10K presented by Otto’s Ottawa, will host the 2025 Canadian 10K Championships with Canada’s top athletes competing for top spots, including Cam Levins, Ben Flanagan, Natasha Wodak and Malindi Elmore. This year, Canadian Athletes will take home an impressive $30,600 worth of prizing. 

Canadian Olympian Rory Linkletter and American long distance runner CJ Anderson take centre stage at Tartan Ottawa International Marathon

Canada’s Rory Linkletter and fellow American elite runner CJ Albertson are set to compete in the Tartan Ottawa International Marathon on May 25. Both athletes competed in the 2025 Boston Marathon, finishing 6th and 14th respectively. Linkletter achieved a personal best of 2:07:02, making him the second-fastest Canadian marathoner of all time. Albertson, who holds the world record in the 50-kilometre run with a time of 2:38:43, finished the Boston Marathon in 2:08:17.

Participant highlights

  • With domestic violence, specifically intimate partner violence (IPV), and two femicides reported in 2025 in the nation’s capital, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe this week announced that he will be running the Tartan Ottawa International Marathon in support of Harmony House, the city’s second-stage shelter for women and children escaping abuse.
  • Kristy Goss, a living kidney donor, will be running alongside Katie Skidmore, a kidney recipient, who is making her return to running  in the Ottawa 5K after acute kidney failure. Both are fundraising for the Kidney Foundation.
  • In 2023, Hannah Manning was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer at just 32 years old. Manning hopes to raise awareness about early detection and cancer research. She’ll be participating in the 17 km Challenge with the goal of raising $1,700 for the Ottawa Hospital Foundation. Read more about her journey here.
  • After 30 years at Ashbury College, 2025 will be Michelle Holman’s final year as teacher and organizer of Team Ashbury, the 450-member fundraising team for Cancer Care at the Ottawa Hospital. Discover the impact of youth in action here.

Over 80 local and national charities are taking part in the Desjardins Charity Challenge this year. See the complete list here. 

Participants of all levels are encouraged to join and experience the unparalleled excitement of Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend, Canada’s largest multi-day running event, and can register by visiting runottawa.ca.

 

Media relations contact:

Lisa Georges
media@runottawa.ca

About Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend 

Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend is Canada’s largest running and walking festival with six races, including the Tartan Ottawa International Marathon, Ottawa Half Marathon presented by Desjardins, Ottawa 10K presented by Otto’s Ottawa, Ottawa 5K and 2K presented by Runkeeper, and Ottawa Kids Marathon, as well as three multi-event challenges. In 2023, runners and walkers in the event raised a record-breaking $1,126,273.66. for local and national charities through the Desjardins Charity Challenge.

Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend is the only running event in Canada to host a World Athletics Elite label marathon and is host to Athletics Canada’s Canadian 10K Championships. The weekend was named Event of the Year at the 2019 Canadian Tourism Awards. In 2020, its title sponsor Tamarack Homes won Sport Tourism Canada’s Canadian Sport Event Sponsorship Initiative of the Year Award.