Two-time Boston Marathon finisher Mark Sutcliffe elected mayor of Ottawa

On Monday, two-time Boston Marathon finisher and the founder of the Canadian running publication iRun Magazine, Mark Sutcliffe, was elected mayor of Ottawa.

Thank you, Ottawa. pic.twitter.com/z9mada46v2

— Mark Sutcliffe (@_MarkSutcliffe) October 25, 2022

With more than 316,000 ballots cast, Sutcliffe collected more than 51 per cent of the votes. His nearest competitor, two-term councillor Catherine McKenney, had 38 per cent of the vote.

Sutcliffe will take over from Jim Watson, who had served as mayor of Ottawa since 2010.

The longtime broadcaster, entrepreneur, journalist and avid runner is the only one of the three candidates without previous political experience, but he is familiar to many voters as a broadcast journalist on CFRA Radio and CityNews Ottawa, and as the executive editor and columnist for the Ottawa Citizen.

Sutcliffe founded iRun in 2008 and sits on the board for Ottawa Race Weekend. He is also the author of three books about running: Why I Run, Canada’s Magnificent Marathon, and Long Road to Boston. 

Long Road to Boston is about Sutcliffe’s journey to the 2015 Boston Marathon after trying to qualify for years. He ran Boston twice, with a 3:42:37 in 2015 and 3:49:37 in the rainstorm of 2018. Sutcliffe has also completed marathons in Chicago, London and New York.

Sutcliffe’s platform was driven on repairing roads and sidewalks and clearing snow. Some of his other promises include boosting the city’s music and entertainment scenes and building new dog parks.