This year marks the second year of the Canadian
Wheelchair Marathon Championship.  The ING Ottawa Marathon is serving again this year as both the Athletics Canada's Canadian Wheelchair Marathon
Championship, and the Canadian Marathon Championships for runners. This
year's Championship is taking place Sunday, May 27th.

Title sponsor of the wheelchair division is Pfizer which is offering a significant prize money purse.  See below:

Open Division Quad Division
1st Place $3000 $1000
2nd Place $2000 $500 **
3rd Place $1000 $200 **
4th Place * $750
5th Place * $500
6th Place * $300
7th Place * $200

Open Division Prizes:
. *Places 4 to 7 must finish under 1:45:00 (men) and 2:00:00 (women)
to be eligible for prize money
. Prize money reduced by 50% if times are slower than 1:35 (men) and
1:49 (women)
. A Time Bonus of $300 bonus for any athletes with times under 1:30
(men) and 1:44 (women)
Quad Division Prizes:
. Prize money reduced by 50% if times are slower than 2:02:00 (men)
and 2:30:00 (women)
. **2nd and 3rd Places must finish under 2:22 (men) and 2:40 (women)
to be eligible for prize money.

As added incentive for racers, the wheelchair marathon is a part of this year's World Series of Wheelchair Racing.
For further information on the Championship, please see the technical package located on the Athletics Canada website at:

English: http://athletics.ca/article.asp?id=10925

French: http://athletics.ca/article.asp?id=11015


Elite Athlete Coordinator Contact Information:  
Please contact the Elite Athlete Coordinator for entry into the
Championships. Depending on the athletes' abilities, assistance may be made available. Elite Athlete Race Packages will be with your race kit pickup.
CONTACT:
Manny Rodrigues
(613) 763-4624 (work)
(613) 233-4483 (home)
Email: mannyr@rogers.com


The Championships is well placed with other competitions occurring around
the same time, most notably the Swiss Race Series taking place in early June. A number of Canadian wheelchair racers will be competing at the Swiss Race Series. Clayton Gerein for example, is competing in the Canadian Wheelchair Marathon Championship and then proceeding onto Switzerland for
the Swiss Race Series.
The Series is comprised of the following competitions: i) Ibach, Switzerland
- June 2, 2007 (Swiss Open Nationals); ii) Pratteln, Switzerland-June 7,
2007 (twilight invitational); and iii) Oensingen, Switzerland-June 9, 2007
(Marathon). Details on the Swiss Race Series can be found on the Athletics
Canada website at:
English: http://www.athletics.ca/article.asp?id=10881
French: http://www.athletics.ca/article.asp?id=11060

The hope is to attract elite level marathoners from other countries so feel free to pass along this information.
The hope is for a strong Canadian presence in this our 2007 Canadian Wheelchair Marathon Championship.

Consider racing in what is recognized as one of the best runners' marathons in North America.