Heat forces shorter race for some runners at Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon

Shortly after 11 a.m. at around the 4-hour mark of the race, officials made a weather-based decision to close a roughly 10 kilometre stretch of the marathon course to remaining runners returning to Ottawa from Gatineau via the Alexandra Bridge.

At their pace this meant about 1 ¼ hours less time on the roads at what would be the hottest point in the day, with expected humidex readings as high as 40 degrees C.

It was a different story in the earlier part of the day, where spectators witnessed an Ethiopian sweep in both the men’s and women’s categories.
Hot weather conditions didn’t do much to slow down the frontrunners and Rio Olympic Games hopefuls, who delivered some of the marathon’s strongest performances ever. Ottawa was a preferred destination for many elite-level athletes looking to secure an Olympics berth.

Frontrunner Dino Sefir, 28, crossed the finish line in 2:08:14, nearly two full minutes ahead of fellow Ethiopian Shura Kitata, 19, who ran 2:10:04. Kenyan Dominic Ondoro rounded out the top three with a time of 2:11:39.

All three of the top female finishers this year were Ethiopians. Koren Jelela, 29, ran 2:27:06. She beat last year’s winner, 32-year-old Aberu Mekuria, who came in at 2:29:51. Third place finisher was Sechale Dalasa, 24, with a time of 2:32:46.