Long May You Run

By Rob Thomas In 1975, 146 people laced up their sneakers and set off from the Carleton University campus on a gruelling 42-kilometre jog that eventually becomes the biggest sporting event in the city. It was then — and is now — the largest marathon in Ca

1972

SEATING PLAN

Bill Williams sits next to Don Johnson of Carleton University’s Sport Medicine Clinic, on a flight from Boston. Both men have run the marathon there. Both dream of a hometown marathon in Ottawa. Two years later, the city agrees to make a marathon part of the Tulip Festival.

1976

TRIAL RUN

500 runners

Ottawa is chosen as the Olympic trials location just weeks ahead of the Montreal Games.

1978 PHOTO FINISH 2,600 runners

Power Bar founder Brian Maxwell steals victory by a nose when he finishes 0.2 seconds ahead of race leader Paul Bannon. Maxwell finishes in 2:16:03. He says enthusiastic spectators prompted him to eat Bannon’s lead: “They shamed me into chasing him.”

1981 PARADISE CITY 3,478 runners

Ottawa is a “runner’s paradise” according to Hal Higdon, who raves about the marathon in Runner’s World magazine.

1983

MAN IN MOTION

4,658 runners

Rick Hansen is the first wheelchair athlete to compete. And when the category is added, he is the first official winner. The marathon won’t draw this many runners again until 2010.

1984 OLYMPIC JUGGERNAUT

3,740 runners

Silvia Ruegger wins the women’s race and the right to represent Canada at the first women’s Olympic marathon in Los Angeles, where she places eighth. She will hold the Canada women’s marathon record (2:28:36) from 1985 to 2013.

1986

DARK DAYS

1,398 runners

Unable to secure liability insurance or a sponsor, the marathon is cancelled — then, at the 11th hour, it is reinstated. A 10K race is added to bolster flagging registration.