Posted: April 1, 2005

Athletics: Race Weekend Scholarship helps athlete turn cash into gold

Olympic hopeful wins annual national scholarship

April 1, 2005 – OTTAWA, ON – Rebecca Stallwood has her eyes set on the road to Beijing, and she plans to get there running. Like many Canadian track & field athletes, Stallwood, 26, has set her sights on the 2008 Olympic Games. Today, in her hometown of Burlington, Ontario, Stallwood received a helping hand in her efforts to reach her goals, and it came all the way from Ottawa.

Stallwood is the 2005 recipient of the National Capital Race Weekend Athletic Scholarship, awarded annually by the Ottawa event. The Race Weekend, which features the ING Ottawa Marathon and the MDS Nordion 10K each May, awards the $3,000 bursary to a promising Canadian track athlete. For this Olympic hopeful, being chosen as this year’s winner means more than just a new pair of running shoes.

“Getting this award means I can focus solely on my studies and my training,” said Stallwood, who plans to attend a dental program in the fall. “It means I won’t have to spend hours every day at a part time job when I could be on the track. It’s an amazing chance to enhance my training and maybe realize my dream of running in Beijing.”

Stallwood has already shown what she can accomplish with the right tools and training. In the fall of 2004 she was able to dedicate 12 weeks solely to training. At the end of that time she won the Canadian Cross Country Championships, having never placed higher than 9th prior to that.

According to Manny Rodrigues, Elite Athlete Coordinator for the Race Weekend, giving dedicated athletes like Stallwood the tools to succeed is exactly what the Race Weekend Athletic Scholarship is meant to do.

“It’s important that our amateur athletes get the support they need to go as far as they can. The Race Weekend is dedicated to supporting the future of Canadian athletics, both through the scholarship program, and through our extensive elite athlete program.”

The 2004 scholarship winner, Taylor Murphy of Guelph, Ontario, went on to run the MDS Nordion 10K last May. Taylor placed seventh overall and was the first Canadian to cross the finish line, winning him the Canadian 10K Road Race Championships for 2004. Stallwood plans to run the 10K in the National Track Championships in June.

“With her background, an Olympic podium is certainly not an unrealistic goal for Rebecca,” said Rodrigues. “And if our scholarship can help her to get to that podium, even better.”

About The Ottawa Race Weekend

The Ottawa Race Weekend, Canada's premier running festival, combines competition, participation and fundraising to make a distinctive contribution to the health of the community. The Race Weekend has over 23,000 participants in 9 races, including the ING Ottawa Marathon. It is run by a volunteer Board of Directors. This year, the Race Weekend is scheduled for May 27-29.