Officials change start times for race weekend due to heat

_ (press release) _

 Saturday, May 28, 2016

(OTTAWA) - Due to weekend weather conditions, Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend officials are making changes to race start times to ensure the safety of its participants and to enable as many runners as possible to participate in races on

 Saturday, May 28 and Sunday, May 29, 2016

Changes are being made to take advantage of the anticipated coolest times of the day for runners to participate in their events. Runners are being notified by email and social media channels.

RACE TIME CHANGES ARE AS FOLLOWS:

 Saturday, May 28, 2016

:

2K -

 3:00 p.m.

: (no change)

5K -

 4:00 p.m.

: (no change)

10K -

 7:00 p.m.

(original time was

 6:30 p.m.

)

 Sunday, May 29, 2016

:

Marathon -

 7:00 a.m.

(no change)

Kids Marathon -

 8:00 a.m.

: (no change)

*Half Marathon -

 8:15 a.m.

(original time was

 9:00 a.m.

)

*For the Half Marathon event, runners are strongly urged to start at the earlier time. Race officials will honour the

 9:00 a.m.

start time for runners who are unaware of the change in race time.

“Our number one priority is to ensure the safety of runners,” says John Halvorsen, President and Race Director of Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend.

“We urge runners to cooperate with us and hydrate frequently during their race, adjust their pace as required, and pay close attention to the race crew and the weather warning flags posted along the race route. If runners cooperate fully, we will reduce the chances of overloading our medical operations, which are a critical requirement for safe race events. This plays an important role in making decisions about proceeding with or stopping.”

** About the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend **

The 2016
_
 Tamarack
_
Ottawa Race Weekend will welcome 47,000 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
](http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aJxMuN_cbso7ohE3zc57tWSFMvcFU4gZiDBQB5jGMfNqDpuRTKVAAxC-caSIKEbu3lNeHSGRvv2zNOsUItcjm32s2VpHPqeGTmpxf5z_0_hPgXmt-UdrzLYzm9NKc_K-R3Zze9aPhXCRuII9VUozBq_XW8DxBWXzbW3TicV9f3A=&c=nbwtykOzWINMDAXfS4FwXAVmftbu9BMJ1cyF04yn3JLj3vXZlY-UUg==&ch=k6DJmkjAankiQWiuuPkRWdUeAHLHUfvT4H3TWc0M5siMBfyBAbVBeg==)

 Please review the EAS flag system that will be used on course
 [
  #runOttawa2016
 ](https://twitter.com/hashtag/runOttawa2016?src=hash)
 [
  pic.twitter.com/JhWKDNxDhM
 ](https://t.co/JhWKDNxDhM)

— Ottawa Marathon (@OttawaMarathon)
[
 May 28, 2016
](https://twitter.com/OttawaMarathon/status/736618581971066884)
We're getting things ready for the Ottawa 2K! Race starts at 3pm [ pic.twitter.com/egBQH3n6hJ ](https://t.co/egBQH3n6hJ) — Ottawa Marathon (@OttawaMarathon) [ May 28, 2016 ](https://twitter.com/OttawaMarathon/status/736627895452479489)