If you tuned in to watch Sunday’s Ottawa International Marathon, you may have seen a familiar Canadian political figure at the halfway mark. Prime Minister Mark Carney was spotted cheering on runners and waving to the broadcast camera near Rideau Hall.
Carney, an avid runner and marathon fan, was spotted giving a casual greeting to eventual men’s winner Albert Korir, top Canadian (and runner-up) Rory Linkletter, and the other male elites running past. It was a moment that even made former Blue Jays broadcaster Arash Madani joke on the livestream: “Only in Canada.”
The 24th Prime Minister of Canada isn’t just a sideline supporter—he’s laced up plenty himself. Carney ran the half-marathon at Ottawa Race Weekend in 1:40:01 back in 2013, then finished the 2015 London Marathon in a very respectable 3:31:35, making him the only Canadian PM to run an Abbott World Marathon Major.
The Ottawa Marathon is uniquely Canadian—not just for its scenic course, but for its route past national landmarks like Parliament Hill, City Hall, and Rideau Canal, with a loop through Rideau Hall, past the residence of the Governor General. With a course like that, you never know who’ll be out there cheering—turns out this year, it was the Canadian prime minister.
Also out on the course: Ottawa mayor Mark Sutcliffe, running his second consecutive Ottawa Marathon. Sutcliffe ran 3:55:56 last year and is one of more than 36,000 participants in this year’s Ottawa Race Weekend across the five distances (2K, 5K, 10K, half-marathon and marathon).
Where else but Canada can you run a race past parliament—and get a wave from your PM on the way?
