Virtual Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend extended to June 30
Staggering $670,000 raised to date; Registration still open for all events and distances
May 25, 2021 – Organizers of the 2021 Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend have announced they will be extending the virtual event by one month to June 30 with registration closing on May 31st.
“With the stay-at-home order ending on June 2nd, and the Phase 1 opening plans unveiled for mid-June, we felt it would be nice to extend the event for a few weeks to enable people to run with small groups when they are allowed,” said Ian Fraser, Executive Director of Run Ottawa.
So far, 8,000 people have registered to take part in the virtual event.
Organizers overjoyed with fundraising to date
With almost a month to go until the Scotiabank Charity Challenge closes on June 21st, the organizers are overjoyed with the fundraising efforts of this year’s participants. To date, participants have raised over $600,000 for 51 local charities taking part in the challenge.
Last year, participants in the virtual event raised $400,000 for local charities. In 2019, the last pre-pandemic in-person event, the 32,000 participants raised $800,000.
“We are well on track for meeting or surpassing our 2019 fundraising total, which is just mind-blowing,” said Fraser “This community is so generous and amazing!”
The largest fundraising team this year is Ashbury College with a team of 350 students, who have been training virtually. Over the past 22 years, Ashbury has raised in excess of $300,000 for the Ottawa Hospital.
“We have had some high profile fundraising from participants like Michael Baine whose half-marathon walk despite advanced cancer has raised a record-setting $65,000 for the Ottawa Hospital, and double-amputee Marcie Stevens who walked/rolled the 2K also in support of the Ottawa Hospital,” continued Fraser. “Everyone has a story, and we are grateful they chose to take part in our event to make a difference for their personal causes.”
Your race, your way
The virtual Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend is taking place between May 1 and June 30 on the streets of Ottawa, Gatineau, Montreal, Toronto and cities all over the world. Participants are encouraged to run close to home and to abide by all public health guidelines in place at the time.
Please also stay tuned to @ottawamarathon’s social media channels to take part in a number of contests and activities to celebrate our love of running and walking.
There is still time to register to take part in the virtual Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend. To register or donate, please visit www.runottawa.ca.
About the virtual Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend
The Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend is Canada’s largest running and walking festival with six races, including the Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon, the Scotiabank Half Marathon, the Ottawa 10K, the Ottawa 5K, the Ottawa 2K and Scotiabank Ottawa Kids Marathon, as well as a number of distance challenges. In 2020, runners and walkers in the virtual event raised $400,000 for local and national charities through the Scotiabank Charity Challenge. In 2021, the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend will again be taking place virtually from May 1 to June 30.
The Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend was named Event of the Year at the 2019 Canadian Tourism Awards. The in-person event is one of only two running events in Canada to host a World Athletics (formerly IAAF) Gold Label Marathon, and host to Athletics Canada’s Canadian 10K Championships. For more information or to register: www.runottawa.ca.