Posted: October 5, 2005

Athletics: Ottawa Race Weekend offers assistance to young Canadian athletes

Ottawa - Organizers of the Ottawa Race Weekend announced the return of three bursaries to be awarded to up-and-coming Canadian runners. The scholarships, one with a national scope and two for local Ottawa athletes, aim to develop the sport of distance running in Canada.

This is the third year the Race Weekend has awarded the scholarships as part of their continuing commitment to reinvesting in Canadian athletics.

The Ottawa Race Weekend Athletic Scholarship, valued at $3,000, will be awarded to an aspiring Canadian athlete attending a post-secondary institution for the 2006 school year. Its inaugural winner in 2004 was Taylor Murphy of Guelph, ON, who went on to win the Canadian division of the Race Weekend’s MDS Nordion 10K, winning the Canadian Road Race Championships for that year.

In 2005, the scholarship was awarded to accomplished athlete and Olympic hopeful Rebecca Stallwood of Burlington, ON. After accepting the award Rebecca competed in the MDS Nordion 10K and placed 10th in the women’s division.

Locally the Race Weekend, which also features the ING Ottawa Marathon, has joined with the National Capital Runners’ Association to award two Athletic Awards of $1,000 to each to the top male and female applicants.

Previous winners include Joseph Nsengiyumva, a well known Ottawa runner who counts among his accomplishments are respectable finishes in a variety of Canadian 10K races spanning the country, including a 4th place finish in the 2002 MDS Nordion 10K. In 2005, Nsengiyumva placed 10th in the ING Ottawa Marathon. Previous winners also include Katie Engle (2005), Mike Woods (2004) and Lisa McVicar (2004).

Applications for both the national scholarship and the local bursaries are available online at www.runottawa.ca.

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 2005 Race Weekend had over 26,000 participants in 9 races, including the ING Ottawa Marathon and the MDS Nordion 10K. It is run by a volunteer Board of Directors. This year, the Race Weekend is scheduled for the May 26-28 weekend.