The 51st Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend takes over the Canadian capital this Saturday and Sunday, with the marathon, half marathon, 10K and a packed family run programme all sold out and the elite fields confirmed. The marathon itself sets off at 07:00 ET on Sunday, 24 May, from Ottawa City Hall on Laurier Avenue West, looping past Parliament Hill before heading along the Rideau Canal towards the finish in Confederation Park.
Race director Ian Fraser has assembled what Run Ottawa is calling its deepest international entry since the event's pre-pandemic peak. The men's start list is led by Kenya's Geoffrey Kirui, the 2017 world champion, who is paced for his first Canadian outing in seven years. Ethiopia's Andamlak Belihu and Bahrain's Yamato Otsu round out a sub-2:08 trio at the front, with home hopes resting on national 10,000m record holder Lucia Stafford's brother and 2:09 marathoner Justin Knight.
The women's field is led by Ethiopia's Worknesh Edesa, who finished fourth at the 2025 Berlin Marathon, alongside Kenya's Vibian Chepkirui, the 2022 Vienna champion. Canadian record holder Malindi Elmore returns to the distance for the first time since Paris 2024, hunting an Olympic qualifying time for the rescheduled 2026 World Championships in Beijing. The women's race is forecast to be tactical, with cool overnight temperatures of around 9°C lifting only to 17°C by the gun.
On the same weekend, the Calgary Marathon — also on Sunday, 24 May — hosts the Canadian masters marathon championship inside its general field. Calgary's elevation of just over 1,000 metres traditionally suppresses headline times, but Run Calgary has used the race to crown national age-group champions for more than a decade, and this year's masters entries top 600 athletes across the 40-and-over divisions.
Tamarack organisers have confirmed that both Saturday's 5K and 10K and Sunday's marathon and half marathon will be streamed in full on the Run Ottawa YouTube channel. Live splits will be published via the event app and on the official results site immediately after each finish. With both events sold out and another 11,000 runners expected on the start lines in Calgary, the Victoria Day long weekend looks set to deliver one of the busiest weekends on the Canadian road racing calendar.