MONTREAL, QC - April 24, 2016 /CNW/ - Two years after a third place at 2016 Banque Scotia 21k de Montréal et 5k on a broken femur, Krista DuChene came back to conquer the race in addition to proving her fitness for the summer Olympic games. On a sunny day with perfect racing conditions, 5,500 runners raised over $1.1 million dollars and counting for 66 local charities.

Current Canadian half-marathon champion Kip Kangogo won the race for the men with a time of 1:06:50, after racing alongside Sami Jibril until Kip broke away at the 20 kilometre mark to a solid win. Josh Bolton from Paris, Ontario, finished third to round out the top three.

"I am very pleased with the race, it was a great day and I am glad to have proved I am where I need to be. Emotionally speaking, today's race brought back a lot of memories from this course two years ago," said a radiant Krista DuChene after the event.

Catherine Cormier was the second female runner to cross the finish at 1:20:18 and the first Quebec female, ahead of Bianca Prémont of Ste-Julie with a time of 1:21:22.

"This year marks yet another milestone for Scotiabank as we have reached a fundraising total of well over the $1 million mark. We are so proud of this achievement and want to congratulate all of the fundraising runners in the 2016 Banque Scotia 21k de Montréal et 5k," said Carole Chapdelaine, Senior Vice President, Quebec and Eastern Ontario Region at Scotiabank. "The Scotiabank Charity Challenge is well established across the country and since its inception in 2003, runners in Scotiabank-sponsored running events have raised over $46 million for community charities. With today's record amount, we are well on our way to surpassing the $50 million fundraising milestone nationally sometime this year!"

At press time, the Scotiabank Charity Challenge had raised more than $1.1 million for 66 charities in the Montreal area, including this year's featured charities -- The Diabetic Children's Foundation, Share the Warmth and the Huntington Society of Quebec.

Scotiabank offers a Scotiabank Charity Challenge at six sponsored marathon events across Canada including Montreal, Halifax, Ottawa, Calgary, Vancouver and Toronto. 

The Scotiabank Charity Challenge is a turnkey fundraising program that provides a simple way for runners in these races to support local causes that make a significant impact on Canadian communities. Participating charities keep 100% of the proceeds raised, as Scotiabank pays for all transaction and credit card fees.

Banque Scotia 21k de Montreal Results:

Half-Marathon Male

1. Kip Kangogo - Lethbrige,Alberta - 1:06:50
2. Sami Jibril - Toronto, Ontario - 1:07:03
3. Josh Bolton - Paris, Ontario - 1:07:42

Half-Marathon Female

1. Krista DuChene - Brantfort, Ontario - 1:12:30
2. Catherine Cormier - New Richmond, Québec - 1:20:18
3. Bianca Prémont - Ste-Julie, Québec - 1:21:22

5k Results

5k Male

1. Vincent Hoa Mai - Lévis, Québec - 15 : 30
2. Patrice Hamelin - Lévis, Québec- 15:59
3. David Le Porho - Montréal, Québec - 16:06

5k Female

1. Arianne Raby- Montréal, Québec - 17:10
2. Anne-Laure Menard - Montréal, Québec - 17:56
3. Manon Létourneau - Lévis, Québec - 18:43

The Banque Scotia 21k de Montréal et 5k is a world-class sporting event that brings together recreational and elite runners from across Canada and beyond for a race in Parc-Jean Drapeau, one of Montréal's most beautiful locations.

To see a list of charities involved in the Scotiabank Charity Challenge, please visithttp://www.canadarunningseries.com/monthalf/montCHARITY.htm

For more highlights and complete race results, please visit: http://www.canadarunningseries.com/monthalf_en/index.htm

Twitter Hashtag: #SCOTIA21KMTL and #runScotia

About Scotiabank
Through our global community investment strategy, Scotiabank and its employees support causes at a grassroots level. Recognized as a leader for our charitable donations and philanthropic activities, in 2015, Scotiabank contributed $67 million to help our communities around the world.

Scotiabank is Canada's international bank and a leading financial services provider in North America, Latin America, the Caribbean and Central America, and Asia-Pacific. We are dedicated to helping our 23 million customers become better off through a broad range of advice, products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets. With a team of more than 89,000 employees and assets of $920 billion (as at January 31, 2016), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (TSX: BNS) and New York Exchanges (NYSE: BNS). Scotiabank distributes the Bank's media releases using CNW. For more information, please visit www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter @ScotiabankViews.

About Canada Running Series
Canada Running Series [CRS] is the nation's premier running circuit with 8 events: 4 in Toronto, 3 in Vancouver and 1 in Montreal. It annually attracts some 60,000 participants and raises more than $6 million for some 320 mostly local charities. The Series includes the IAAF Gold Label Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, and the Athletics Canada National Marathon Championships. Since 1999, CRS has gained international recognition for innovation and organization. It is strongly committed to staging great experiences for runners of all levels from Canadian Olympians and International stars, to healthy lifestyle people and charity runners, and to making sport part of sustainable communities and the city-building process.