Ottawa mayor gets criticism over London Marathon decision

Ottawa mayor Mark Sutcliffe has been challenged online for his decision to race the London Marathon on April 21 while on official business in the U.K. with Ottawa Tourism.

An original CBC News story reported that Sutcliffe has been forced to defend his decision to race, stating that he was invited to attend a sports conference on behalf of the city’s tourism body and “doesn’t see a conflict of interest” in his decision to race while he’s there. While Sutcliffe’s travel and accommodation for the conference has been covered by Ottawa Tourism, Sutcliffe has paid for his own race registration and intends to cover any related personal expenses himself.

I'm very excited that later this month I will be joining a #TeamOttawa mission to London organized by @Ottawa_Tourism, and with the participation of @Invest_Ottawa and @runottawa. We'll be hosting a series of events, promoting tourism to Ottawa, meeting with companies that do…

— Mark Sutcliffe (@_MarkSutcliffe) April 2, 2024

In response to concerns that taxpayers are footing the bill for a personal endeavour, Sutcliffe has responded that, “There happens to be a marathon going on while I’m there, so instead of running from my hotel and running around the streets of London myself, I entered the London Marathon.”

I’m very excited that later this month I will be joining a #TeamOttawa mission to London organized by @Ottawa_Tourism, and with the participation of @Invest_Ottawa and @runottawa. We’ll be hosting a series of events, promoting tourism to Ottawa, meeting with companies that do…

— Mark Sutcliffe (@_MarkSutcliffe) April 2, 2024

Sutcliffe’s mission in the U.K. will see him promote Canada’s capital city as a premier tourism destination to one of its largest markets.

Sutcliffe is an avid runner, having completed more than 40 marathons, including Boston and Berlin. He is also a former running journalist and author of the book, Long Road to Boston, published in 2016.