Media advisory - Athletes and office workers will storm Place Ville Marie on November 20 for Centraide

Some 500 runners will attempt to race up the 41 flights of the tower in record time

MONTREAL, Nov. 18, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - November 20, 2013 at 11:30 a.m. will mark the start of the 16^th annual RBC Challenge for Centraide, a relay race to the top of the Place Ville Marie tower to raise money for Centraide of Greater Montreal's campaign, which aims to alleviate poverty.

During this sports challenge, a group of international calibre athletes will compete against some 500 corporate employees in an attempt to race in relay teams up the some 1,000 steps to the top of the 41-storey Place Ville Marie tower in record time.

The team of athletes will be captained by Mikaël Kingsbury, freestyle skiing world champion and Olympic hopeful for the Sochi 2014 Winter Games. He will be accompanied by snowboarder Caroline Calvé (3^rd on World Cup circuit), kayaker Hugues Fournel (7^th at London Olympics), freestyle skiing Marc-Antoine Gagnon (5^th at 2012 Word Cup) and para-cyclist Marie-Claude Molnar (bronze medallist at London Olympics). These athletes will attempt to beat the existing record by racing as a relay team to the top of the tower in less than 2 minutes 41 seconds.

The media are invited to witness this exciting event:

DAY:	Wednesday, November 20, 2013
TIME:	11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
PLACE:	1 Place Ville Marie, Montreal
	(Entrance off University Street. Assembly point on main floor, north side.)
Timetable:
11:30 a.m.:	A word of welcome from Martin Thibodeau, President, Quebec Headquarters, RBC Royal Bank, and Lili-Anna Pereša, President and Executive Director of Centraide of Greater Montreal.
11:35 a.m.:	Introduction of the athletes.
11:40 a.m.:	Announcement of the amount raised.
11:45 a.m.:	Warm-up in the company of the athletes.
11:50 a.m.:	Positioning of the athletes and participants on the floors.
12:00 noon:	Starting signal for the race.
12:50 a.m.:	Presentation of the medals and end of the event.

All the proceeds of this sporting event will be donated to Centraide Campaign 2013. The goal of this campaign is to raise $58.5 million by December 18 to support a vast network of 369 community agencies that help half a million vulnerable people in Montreal, in Laval and on the South Shore.

SOURCE: Centraide of Greater Montreal

Annick Gagnon,Centraide of Greater Montreal
Tel.: [phone], ext. 242, [email protected]
www.centraide-mtl.org