OTTAWA, ON–(Marketwired – May 16, 2016) – Close to 50,000 runners will hit the streets of Ottawa for Canada’s largest running weekend — the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend on May 28 and 29. Many will be making their race more meaningful by raising funds for one of the 61 charities associated with the 2016 Scotiabank Charity Challenge, including three featured charities:
- The Ottawa Hospital Foundation
- The Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Foundation (CHEO)
- Canadian Red Cross-Alberta Fires
“Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend is a great combination of athleticism, philanthropy and community spirit. Participants share Scotiabank’s commitment to giving back to their communities and we want to thank everyone for their ongoing fundraising efforts,” said Carole Chapdelaine, Senior Vice-President, Quebec/Eastern Ontario Region at Scotiabank. “Since 2003, our runners have raised over $46 million for community charities nationally and in 2016, together, we are racing to surpass the $50 million fundraising milestone.”
The Scotiabank Charity Challenge is a turnkey fundraising program that provides a simple way for race participants 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.
“We are extremely proud to have so many local charities and runners choose our event to raise funds,” said John Halvorsen, President of Run Ottawa and Race Director for the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend. “Thanks to Scotiabank every dollar raised goes to the causes dear to our runners’ hearts, and every charity, big and small, is able to take part.”
For a complete list of 2016 charities participating in the Scotiabank Charity Challenge, please visit the Run Ottawa website.
Part of the Scotiabank Charity Challenge is a friendly competition between the charities for $24,750 in cash prizes consisting of $4,250 for 1st place, $2,500 for 2nd, and $1,500 for 3rd in the following categories:
- The Official Charity that has the most fundraising runners.
- The Official Charity that raises the most fundraising dollars.
- The Official Charity that raises the largest amount of pledge dollars per fundraising runner.
How to get involved:
- Register for an event: Register for the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend on the Run Ottawa website.
- Fundraise: Once registered, sign up for the Scotiabank Charity Challenge and raise funds for a participating official charity.
- Share! Share your story on social media, including why you support your charity, using #runScotia.
- Donate: Visit the Scotiabank Charity Challenge to select an official charity and make a one-time donation.
- Cheer: Support friends and family along the race route and as they cross the finish line. You can also show your support to runners online by using the hashtags #TORW2016 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 Marketwired. For more information, please visit www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter @ScotiabankViews.
About Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend
The 2015 Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend welcomed more than 49,400 participants in six races, including the Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon, the Scotiabank Half-Marathon, the Ottawa 10K, the HTG Sports 5K, the 2K and Scotiabank Kids Marathon. The Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend is one of only two running events in the world to host two IAAF Gold Label races — the Ottawa 10K and the Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon. The 2016 Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend will take place on May 28-29, 2016. Visit us at www.runottawa.ca.
For media enquiries only:
Lesley Sturla
High Road Ottawa on behalf of Scotiabank
Lesley.sturla@highroad.com
(613) 889-4440
Kristin McCleister
Public, Corporate and Government Affairs
Scotiabank
(416) 933-0646
Kristin.Mccleister@scotiabank.com
Annie Boucher
Media relations
Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend
boucher@fusecommunications.ca
613-863-3702