Blood pooled in Mark Sutcliffe’s right foot, but as Ottawa’s mayor crossed the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend’s marathon race finish line Sunday morning, it was all worth it.
He had just raised more than $117,000 for a fund that would help his project to end youth homelessness by 2030.
He was met with a warm applause and congratulations as he and representatives of organizations supporting youth homelessness crossed the finish line.
“There was no way I was going to stop,” he said at a post-race media conference. “I felt like I owed it to everybody to finish this thing,” he added, as he expressed his gratitude for those who crossed the finish line with him.
The mayor’s daily social media greetings came out early on Sunday.
“Good morning Ottawa. Bonjour Ottawa,” read his 4 a.m. post on X, which included a photo of the Start/Debut banner for the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend’s marathon start sign.
Sutcliffe said he started the race in the dark and cold because he wanted the experience to symbolize what homelessness youth experience daily.
“It was quite an experience starting in the dark,” he said. “This is what it’s all about when you’re all out there by yourself.”
Despite the hard moments during the race, Sutcliffe said he kept going and that the support from the community certainly helped.
“Youth in our community who are homeless are not there because it’s their fault or they made the wrong choices,” Sutcliffe said. “It’s not on them. It’s on us.”
But the second day of Ottawa’s much-anticipated annual race weekend was just starting when Sutcliffe crossed the finish line just before 8:30 a.m.
Thousands after him flooded through the same gates just hours later.
Among them, elite marathoners like 24-year-old Kristian Jamieson, great-grandson of legendary Tom Longboat cruised towards the finish line splashing past puddles of water that pooled from Ottawa’s overnight rain. Jamieson’s goal was to to beat Longboat’s historic 2:24:24 Boston time on Canadian soil, but ended up slightly slower at 2:31:23.
In the men’s elite division, Kenya’s Elvis Cheboi broke the tape in the marathon, finishing in 2:09:22. In the women’s race, Sweden’s Abeba Aregawi claimed victory in 2:23:12, a new Swedish national record.
Both winners will take home $24,000.
Among the elite runners who did not make it to Sunday’s race was 36-year-old Yebrgual Melese. The Ethiopian marathoner tragically died while training for the May 24 race.
Her absence was felt by those like Ashagrie Getahun who attended the race and held the Ethiopian flag; cheering the elite leaders while mourning the ones who couldn’t join them.
“Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences are with her family, friends … and the Ethiopian athletic community during this difficult time,” read a May 12 Facebook post by the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend.
The community grew ever more vibrant as the path towards the finish line grew more packed with supporters who seemed to clap louder and smile wider.
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