Vol. 1, Issue 2

Vol. 1, Issue 2 - September 16, 2009

About Canada Army Run

Canada Army Run is a unique running event in which civilians run, walk, or wheel side-by-side with members of the Canadian Forces (Air Force, Army, and Navy) in half-marathon and 5K events. Fundraising efforts benefit Soldier On and the Military Families Fund.

Key Dates

Saturday, Sept. 19

18:00 hrs - Pasta Dinner.
Served field kitchen style in Confederation Park to 500 runners and local dignitaries.

Sunday, Sept. 20

• 07:30 hrs - 5K Opening ceremonies
• 07:45 hrs - 5K Salute to injured soldiers
• 08:00 hrs - 5K Start
• 08:30 hrs - ½ Marathon opening ceremonies
• 08:45 hrs - ½ Marathon salute to injured soldiers
• 09:00 hrs - ½ Marathon start
• 12:00 hrs - Awards

Opening ceremonies & race starts take place on Elgin Street at the corner of Laurier Avenue. The Award Ceremony takes place on the City Hall stage, facing Confederation Park.

Media Accreditation

Media credentials are required for admittance to the media room and to certain areas (including the finish line). Detailed accreditation information is available at www.armyrun.ca.

Canada Army Run SitRep

Canada Army Run SitRep is designed to keep media informed about activities leading up to the most unique running event in Canada and the 2nd largest in the nation’s capital (after Ottawa Race Weekend). Here, we hope you will find ideas for potential stories, profiles of some of the people participating, and facts and figures you can integrate into your stories.

Please contact us at media@armyrun.ca or call Velma LeBlanc @ 613-794-4806 for questions or assistance with your coverage activities. We look forward to working with you to help tell the stories of those involved in the Run.

Last Year’s 5K Winner Returning to Ottawa to Reclaim Title

Ryan McKenzie, last year’s 5K winner in the inaugural Canada Army Run, is returning to reclaim his title. The 30-year-old reservist, based in Victoria, B.C., who also works part-time at Running Room, is the “winningest” athlete in Canadian Interuniversity Sport. At Canada Army Run last year, he ran the 5K in 14:53:09.

“The Army Run was the most unique experience I have had before, during or after a race,” said McKenzie. “I like what it represents and am honoured to be able to participate again. Winning is not the goal; representing the Armed Forces to the best of my ability is.”

Navy Wives Run for the Army

Team Members:Back, l-r: Elena Jordan, Louise Mercier, Judy Smith, Beatrix Peskett, Tammy Cooper Front, l-r: Sloan McCauley, Emma Davidson, Danielle Sing, Paulette Hendry, Christine RobertsonMissing: Gina Donaldson, Libby Rouleau

In 1986, Dianne Taylor captured the lives of military wives in her debut book “There’s No Wife Like It” and in various newspaper columns in a manner that inspired them to come together and realize that regardless of whether they supported their husbands in the navy, army or air force, or whether they lived in Esquimalt, Cold Lake or Petawawa, they had a lot in common.

This year in that same spirit of “home team” and the “military family,” for the first time a group of Navy Wives have come together to support 2009 Canada Army Run.

With the 100th Anniversary of the Canadian Navy looming on the horizon of 2010, this group of athletes are coming together to run or walk in solidarity to support the Army and the fundraising efforts for the Soldier On Fund and the Military Families Fund.

Siblings To Proudly Carry Canadian Flag Again

Featured on the home page of Canada Army Run, Kirk Cushing, from Ladysmith, Quebec, will again be running with his two sisters (14 and 16), and taking turns with them holding the Canadian flag. “Our family is proud to support the Canadian military as we come from a long line of military background,” said their proud mother, Jo Ellen Cushing. “Many runners commented after last year’s run that the trio kept them motivated and pushed them on. They will run again this year and, again, will proudly hoist the flag high.”

Registration Passes 9500

More than 9500 have registered for Canada Army Run, 2500 more than participated in last year’s inaugural run. Organizers are expecting 10,000 by Run day.

“I think we’re seeing these kinds of numbers and this kind of interest because of the nature of the event itself,” said Run Director Major Chris Horeczy. “We’re not only seeing avid runners register, we’re seeing people signing up to walk, run, or wheel for very personal reasons — whether it’s in memory of grandparents or parents who spent their careers in the military or in support of sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, or friends who are in the military today.”

Traditional Pasta Dinner Takes on Different Flavour at Canada Army Run

Warrant Officer Chris Parker

The traditional pre-race-day pasta dinner held before many large running events takes on a different twist at Canada Army Run. The Saturday, September 19 dinner will be held “military field-kitchen style” under tents in Confederation Park and will be prepared by military chefs experienced for cooking and serving troops in the field. A small team of cooks — under the leadership of head chef Warrant Officer Chris Parker (who has served troops in Afghanistan and Bosnia and up to 2500 people per meal) — will be working from two on-site military kitchen trailers to serve 500 people (runners and invited VIPs). As Parker says, “if you can cook in a military kitchen trailer, you can cook anywhere!”