21K de Montreal aims to raise over 1.3 million for charity
Woodfine and Hannah to lead the field for this weekend's 21k de Montreal
This Sunday is the Banque Scotia 21K de Montreal and runners are excited about the Charity Challenge. The challenge raises funds for 80 participating organizations and they’re looking to surpass last year’s total of 1.3 million dollars.
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Taking place over Saturday and Sunday of this weekend, the Banque Scotia 21k de Montréal will see over 7,000 runners cross its start lines of various distances. Race Director Francois Lecot says, “The Banque Scotia 21k de Montréal is a weekend-long event with a distance for everyone. There is a 5k, 10k, half-marathon and even a 1k Kids Run. It is a fun weekend for the whole family! The event is one of the key spring running events in Eastern Canada and has raised over 7.5 million dollars for local charities since the Scotiabank Charity Challenge was introduced in Montréal in 2009.”
In the elite fields, men’s defending champion Tristan Woodfine of Cobden, Ont. is returning this weekend. Woodfine ran a big personal best in the marathon at Houtson in the beginning of the year. He told Canada Running Series, “The 2:15 was a good step from Ottawa taking 3 and a half minutes off, obviously you can’t complain about that” he says. “After that race I definitely have more confidence going into this year. This year is going to be all about trying to make the Olympic standard in the fall.”
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On the women’s side, Rachel Hannah will be running the 21.1K. She told Canada Running Series, “I am looking forward to going back there (Montreal). I haven’t been there since probably four years ago, when they had the Canadian championships,” she recalls. “It just hasn’t fit into my season plans since then.”
“I am hoping to have a strong race and it’s really good timing because my goal race this season will be the Ottawa Marathon. It’s really good, timing-wise, to get in a hard effort in the half marathon. I ran 1:16 mid at the Chilly Half Marathon on March 3rd, so it would be nice to be under that time.”
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