The Half Corked Marathon was runner-up in a prestigious tourism awards competition. Hey, there’s Indiana Jones!
(Dan Walton photo)

The 2016 Half Corked Marathon was in a tight race to be recognized as Canada’s event of the year.

Winners of this year’s Canadian Tourism Awards Gala were announced Nov. 30 in Gatineau, Quebec, where the Oliver Osoyoos Winery Association was nominated for the Metro Toronto Convention Centre Event of the Year Award. The event is hosted each year by the Tourism Industry Association of Canada Tourism Congress.

“We’re one of the top three events in the country with fantastic company in those three events – that’s a huge accolade in itself,” said Tony Munday, executive director of the Oliver-Osoyoos Winery Association. “I think a big part of it was, everyone who has experienced it has such fantastic things to say.”

Munday said the marathon was able to gain recognition in such a competitive category by maintaining a “top-level” experience for those that attend.

Some of Canada’s most avid runners boast that they live for the Half Corked Marathon, Munday said.

The lottery for the 2017 marathon recently passed, which 4,500 people put their names in for (up from around 4,000 last year) and only 1,100 will be admitted (up from 1,000 last year).

Munday said while it would be possible to accommodate over 4,000 runners, that would erode the quality of the event and the Okanagan experience.

By limiting the number of entrants, those who get their names picked out of the hat are more likely to experience one-on-one time with winemakers and see the vineyards in their serenity.

“If it gets too big it loses that je ne sais pas,” Munday said.

“And it maintains the utmost quality experience. Three thousand people will be bummed out they can’t get in, but it’s still driving the urge for future marathons. That demand causes the intrigue.”

It’s more than just runners who have an insatiable appetite for the Half Corked – audiences love hearing about it. Munday said the Oliver-Osoyoos Winery Association found itself at the centre of 209 pieces of media coverage over the past year, to which a very large portion came from the Half Corked.

Although Half Corked didn’t take top spot at the Canadian Tourism Awards Gala, it was a runner up to one of history’s largest sporting organizations, FIFA, which was in Canada last year as the juggernaut host of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup.