Press Release - ING Ottawa Marathon - 10/3/07

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

       ING Ottawa Marathon sets new bar for Canadian runners, 
              and makes plans to help them reach for it

October 3rd, 2007 – OTTAWA, ON – The ING Ottawa Marathon, Canada's premier 
running event and host to the 2008 Canadian Marathon Championships, is 
reaching out to Canadian runners with the announcement of a new Canadian 
Elite Program. It offers guaranteed entry, travel assistance and 
accommodations to any Canadian athletes who meet an "A" standard at any 
non-aided certified race.  This means running sub 2:22:00 in a marathon or 
sub 1:07:30 in a half marathon for men.  For women any time under 2:47:00 
for the marathon and 1:19:00 for the half marathon will earn them elite 
status. For runners who don't meet the "A" standard, they can still earn a 
trip to the championships as a seeded athlete by achieving the "B" standard 
laid out in the plan. Guaranteed entry and priority placement at the start 
line will go to any athlete running sub 2:31:00 (full marathon) or 1:11:30 
(half marathon) for the men, and sub 3:05:00 (full marathon) or 1:25:00 
(half marathon) for the women.  

"We're doing this to encourage more competitive runners to participate in 
the Canadian Marathon Championships," says Manny Rodrigues, elite athlete 
coordinator for the Ottawa Race Weekend.  "We're hoping the assistance not 
only attracts the top elites to the event, but also the developing athletes 
that are running the 'B' standard."

For Canadian athletes, the new program will benefit both individual runners 
and the sport as a whole. 

"The support offered by the ING Ottawa Marathon for Canadian distance 
runners is quite amazing," says Reid Coolsaet, a three-time Canadian Track 
& Field Champion in the 5000 meters. "The high level of international 
competition combined with the support for the Canadian athletes gives us a 
chance to get some Canadians back on the Olympic start line in 2008. The 
support will help the quality and depth of marathoning in Canada and there 
should be a significant improvement of the current standard in the years to 
come."

The Ottawa Race Weekend includes in its mandate the development of the 
sport of running both locally and nation-wide.  This new program for 
competitive athletes joins a host of other initiatives aimed at growing the 
sport at a grass roots level, with the eventual goal of bringing Canada to 
the forefront of running on an international scale.   

Taylor Murphy knows first hand about the commitment of the Ottawa Race 
Weekend to developing the sport. In 2004 the Guelph native was the first 
recipient of the Ottawa Race Weekend Athletic Scholarship.  Now on the 
verge of a promising post-collegiate running career he is hoping to benefit 
from this new ORW program. 

"The support offered from the ING Ottawa Marathon to Canadian athletes is 
unparalleled," adds Murphy. "The Ottawa Race Weekend has had a great 
history of supporting Canadian distance running, and it's great to see the 
continued support. It's absolutely going to make a difference."

"This is a long-term commitment by the Ottawa Race Weekend organization. We 
are hoping that all Canadian athletes will be inspired to strive to meet 
these standards simply because the bar has been set," says Rodrigues.  
"Whether they make it to the Championships in Ottawa or not, in the end the 
more runners we have competing at a higher lever, the more likely we are to 
get athletes who can achieve the tougher Canadian Olympic standards."

More information about Canadian Elite program is available at
www.runottawa.ca.
 

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