Athletics Canada launches new road-racing series

Athletics Canada is uniting Canada’s top road races with the launch of their new 2023 Road Race Label Program. This program will act as the organization’s first-ever nationwide road racing series with the intention to increase the number of high-level competitions across the country.

On Jan. 11, Athletics Canada revealed 12 races spanning four provinces that will be a part of the program. The series will begin with Vancouver’s First Half in February and ends with the Hamilton Road2Hope 5K in November. 

According to Athletics Canada, all 12 races included in the 2023 series are in full compliance with World Athletics Competition Rules, which allows every Canadian performance achieved at their events to be recognized by World Athletics and included in the World Athletics rankings. All races in the series will also feature an elite-entry program and prize money.

Another goal of the Road Race Label Program is to establish a national anti-doping program facilitated by the Canadian Centre of Ethics in Sport (CCES) and to create more racing opportunities for current and up-and-coming national team athletes.

“We feel this program provides an important structure to road racing in Canada,” said Chris Winter, Athletics Canada director of domestic programs, in a press release. “We look forward to an exciting year of racing on the roads all across Canada.”

Here is the schedule for the 2023 Athletics Canada Road-Racing Series:

Canada Running Series (CRS) race director Alan Brookes told Athletics Canada he is “delighted” to have four CRS races in the series. “I believe this series is a collaborative think-tank of the best leaders in our Canadian road-running community,” states Brookes.

CRS’s first race in the series will be the Under Armour Toronto 10K on June 17 and end with the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon on Oct. 15, which will act as the Canadian 2024 Paris Olympic Trials alongside the national marathon championships.