Ottawa Marathon announces new race director

It was announced in April that Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend director John Halvorsen would be stepping down. Today, Ian Fraser was announced as the new executive director of Run Ottawa and Race Director of Ottawa Race Weekend.

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Fraser is a local bike shop owner and triathlete. He grew up in Ottawa in the Orleans area and now owns a store in Hintonburg. Fraser says he’s thrilled about his new position. “It feels incredible. I did the Ottawa Marathon for the first time back in 1986 or 1987. It kind of feels like everything has come full circle. I grew up in Orelans, I was born just off of Montreal Road and now I’m the executive director of Run Ottawa.” Fraser has run the marathon six times, the 10K 10 times and was a marathon pacer for several years.

The executive director’s favourite spot on the Ottawa Marathon course is Hintonburg. “It’s where my store is, and it’s my favourite neighbourhood in Ottawa. We’ve seen this area of Ottawa go from a difficult place to an amazing area.”

Fraser loves Ottawa and loves running in the area. His favourite route straddles both Ontario and Quebec and runs along the Ottawa River. With so many bridges connecting the two provinces, you’re able to run across the river to Quebec and come home to Ontario and get two different views.

Fraser’s area of focus for Race Weekend will be in participant experience. “We’re already considered to be one of the best experience events in Canada and I want to continue that. The changes will be subtle, but everything is done to make our runners’ experience even better.” Fraser also wants to ensure that all of the events on the Run Ottawa calendar get their due attention. “My focus is to enhance the Run Ottawa brand and make sure that the whole calendar is great.”

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Registration for Run Ottawa events can be found here. The next race on their calendar is the Saturday 5K Series.