OTTAWA, ON - May 25, 2014 /CNW/ - As the 40^th edition of the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend winds down, Canada's biggest running event has once again broken records for race times and registration figures.

"This has been an outstanding event," says John Halvorsen, Race Director and President of Run Ottawa. "The weather was favourable, we celebrated our 40^th year, we broke registration records with 47,500 participants, and four records fell over the weekend."

The four records are:

• A women's course record in the Lowertown Brewery 10K women's race set by Mary Keitany, 32 of Kenya, with a time of 31:21:7 (previous record of 31:24 was set in 2005).
• Two Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon men's records broken by Yemane Tsegay, 29, of Ethiopia for his time of 2:06:54 -- the men's Canadian soil record (set in Toronto in 2013 with a time of 2:07:05) and the Scotiabank Ottawa course record (set in 2013 with a time of 2:08:04).
• A women's course record for the Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon broken by Tigist Tufa, 27, from Ethiopia, with a time of 2:24:31 (previous record was 2:25:30 set in 2013).

"As always, we thank the more than 2,500 volunteers, as well as the Ottawa Police Services, the City of Ottawa emergency staff and other organizations for their cooperation in making the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend a huge success," added John Halvorsen.

"Congratulations to all the runners, walkers, and supporters on a fantastic race weekend. We want to particularly thank everyone who took part in the Scotiabank Charity Program for making their run even more meaningful by giving back to local charities," said Carole Chapdelaine, Scotiabank Senior Vice President of the Quebec and Eastern Ontario Region. "We are so proud to have become part of this great event this year and we are excited to announce we will be continuing our title sponsorship of the marathon, half-marathon and kid's marathon for CHEO in 2015. We are also pleased to announce we will be introducing the Scotiabank Charity Challenge next year."

More than 30 charity organizations and 2,766 participated in the 2014 Scotiabank Charity Program raising a total of $626,288.15. The Ottawa Hospital Foundation alone raised $353,235.

In the 2015 marathon weekend, the Scotiabank Charity Challenge will provide participating charities the opportunity to raise much needed funds through a friendly competition. Runners will be able to pick a cause from the participating charities and once the final donation results come in after the 2015 event, Scotiabank will award cash prizes to charities based on their fundraising performance.

Scotiabank sponsors five other major running events across Canada in Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver, which all include the Scotiabank Charity Challenge. Together those 5 races have raised over $30 million dollars since the Scotiabank Charity Challenge was initiated.

About the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend 
The 2014 Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend welcomed almost 47,500 participants in six races, including the Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon, the Scotiabank Half-Marathon, the Lowertown Brewery Ottawa 10K, the HTG Sports 5K, the 2K and Scotiabank Kids Marathon. The Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon and Lowertown Brewery Ottawa 10K are both designated Silver Label IAAF events by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF). Run Ottawa, the organization behind the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend, is dedicated to promoting the sport of running and enhancing the health and well-being of our community by organizing distinctive world-class and local races, and managing an active, membership-based running club. Visit us at www.runottawa.ca.

About Scotiabank: 
Scotiabank is a leading financial services provider in over 55 countries and Canada's most international bank. Through Bright Future, our global philanthropic program, Scotiabank and its employees support causes at a grassroots level across six pillars: health, education, social services, arts and culture, environment and sports. Recognized as a leader for our charitable donations and philanthropic activities, Scotiabank has contributed on average some $50 million annually over the last five years to community causes around the world. Visit us at www.scotiabank.com.

Information: 
Annie Boucher
Media relations
Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend
613-863-3702
boucher@fusecommunications.ca
@aboucherfuse 
@ottawamarathon

Diana Hart
Scotiabank
diana.hart@scotiabank.com 
Cell (647)821-3849