Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend raises almost 80 per cent of fundraising goal

It’s the middle of May and that means Ottawa’s Tamarack Virtual Race Weekend is in full swing.

For the entire month of May, participants can raise money and run or walk in events that are typically offered for the in-person race.

However, this year — like last year — it will take place online.

In a regular year for the in-person event, the race weekend sees just over 30,000 people with their feet to the pavement who raise around $1 million for local charities, race director Ian Fraser explained on the Sam Laprade Show.

This year, the number of participants dropped to 10,000 but the event has already been able to raise over $500,000 ($585,656, to be exact, as of Sunday) — and the clock is still ticking.

The fundraising goal this year, according to the website, is $750,000.

In way, Fraser said, the annual event — which has been running since 1975 — has been working up to this moment.

When the pandemic hit last year, he explained, Fraser and the team were in the middle of preparations for the in-person event.

But when things were forced to be put on hold, the team came up with the idea of making the race weekend virtual.

It was “high uncharted territory,” to say the least.

“We learned that the way to be able to touch people virtually is quite differently that an in-person event,” Fraser explained. “The goals that a lot of people bring into a virtual event are different than an in-person event. Particularly during COVID, the things that highlighted our process were the resilience of our participants, and that their goals were maybe more mental health oriented, a little more physical health oriented to try and get through numerous stay-at-home orders that we’ve had. It was just a little more of a support tool for them.”

Piggy backing off of what they learned last year, Fraser said it was time to take that idea to the next level for the 2021 weekend — round two, so to speak.

And if there’s one thing Fraser noticed it's that the people who can give back to the community are doing what they can to donate to their favourite causes.

“We’re resilient here in Ottawa, and people here really support the charities that they love and believe in,” Fraser said. “I can’t tell you how heart warming it is — it’s been such a big focus of this year’s 2021 virtual event.”

People wanting to participate can set up their own fundraising page through the platform — they can also donate to other pages, as well.

Participants also have a list of races they can take part in — races that offer both a run or walk option; the marathon, half marathon, 10k, 5k and more.

To sign up for the charity challenge, a run or walk or for more information, visit RunOttawa.ca.