New westbound route for the 2011 Ottawa Marathon – New routes in three races expected to enhance the experience for runners

March 7, 2011, OTTAWA – Canada's most popular and fastest-growing road race weekend will boost its appeal even further this year by introducing a new, more urban course.

Ottawa Marathon organizers today unveiled new routes for its marathon, half-marathon and 10K distances – the first course changes in 3 years. Directing runners west instead of south will make the course flatter in some areas and could  result in faster finish times.  

The marathon course will start as usual near City Hall, head west through Ottawa's charming Chinatown and Little Italy districts, then on to Wellington West and into Westboro Village before returning east on the historic Ottawa River Parkway. Next, the course turns north over the Chaudière Bridge to downtown Gatineau and returns to Ottawa over the Alexandra bridge and into Rockliffe Park, past Manor Park and New Edinburgh area then back along Sussex to Colonel By as far as Bronson where runners will cross the bridge to access Queen Elizabeth Parkway and the historic Rideau Canal before ending back near City Hall.

The half-marathon course will generally follow the same route but will head south after crossing Alexandra Bridge to pick up Colonel By Drive, cross Pretoria and turn right on Queen Elizabeth to the finish. The 10K will have runners race through Chinatown and little Italy accessing Queen Elizabeth at Dow's Lake to the finish line near City Hall.  Maps of the new courses are available at https://runottawa.ca/index.php/en/course-maps.

"Our goal was to change the route to make it even more enjoyable for runners," says Jim Robinson, General Manager, Run Ottawa. "Our new marathon and half-marathon courses will keep runners in more picturesque and urban areas, giving them lots to look at while offering their family and friends more opportunities to cheer for them."

The Ottawa Marathon is one of two International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) sanctioned Silver label running events in Canada. Competitive runners can enter the Ottawa Marathon to qualify for the fabled Boston Marathon. The new course is expected to give all runners, elites and recreational, a chance to bring home their PB (personal best).

"Our new route was also designed to be flatter in some areas and help competitive runners achieve better times while showcasing Ottawa's beautiful urban neighbourhoods," says Robinson, adding that close to 40,000 people register for seven events on Ottawa Race Weekend. "We're grateful to the City of Ottawa, City of Gatineau and the NCC and local business improvement areas who were all more than willing to welcome our runners through their neighbourhoods."

The 2011 Ottawa Race Weekend will take place May 28-29. The half-marathon is now sold out. Marathon and 10K registrations are at 60%.

ABOUT THE OTTAWA RACE WEEKEND

The Ottawa Race Weekend, Canada's premier running event, combines competition, participation and fundraising to make a distinctive contribution to the health of the community. The 2010 Ottawa Race Weekend welcomed 39,010 participants in seven races, including the Ottawa Marathon.

The Ottawa Marathon and Ottawa 10K are both sanctioned by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF).  Run Ottawa, the organization behind the Ottawa Race Weekend, is run by a volunteer Board of Directors

The 2011 Ottawa Race Weekend will take place May 28-29, 2011.

Annie Boucher