Plant Your Feet Across Canada: RONA Shows Support for Canadian Olympic Athletes by Hosting 5,515 km Collective Relay-one Tree to be Planted for Every Kilometre Run

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - July 10, 2012) -

Editors' note: a photo and an infographic are associated with this press release.

With the London Games rapidly approaching, RONA, a proud National partner of the Canadian Olympic Team, is getting into the athletic spirit with a call-to-action for Canadians. This summer, RONA, the largest Canadian distributor and retailer of hardware, home renovation and gardening products, is inviting Canadians to 'Plant Your Feet' across the country, as RONA hosts a 5,515 km collective relay - the distance from Victoria to Halifax - in support of the Canadian Olympic Team. In recognition of Canada's support for our athletes, RONA will plant a tree for every kilometre run.

From July 9 to August 9, 2012, Canadians from coast-to-coast can register for the collective relay at gocanada2012.rona.ca and enter their personal goal and running distance. The site will track each runner's progress in every province. The goal is to achieve a collective distance of 5,515 km - approximately the distance from coast to coast - and plant trees in support of reforestation programs across Canada.

"As a proud partner of the Canadian Olympic Team, we are inviting our customers to show their support for our Canadian Olympic athletes and help improve the environment with a relay," says Karim Salabi, Executive Vice President, Marketing at RONA. "Whether you run one kilometre or walk 10, every step counts, and we encourage everyone to show their support for the Canadian Olympic Team and reforestation programs across the country this summer by getting involved in the RONA Relay."

Each participant will have an opportunity to share their journey with their online network via the RONA Facebook page and use of the Twitter hashtag, #RONAruns. RONA will also launch an ad campaign on social media channels to encourage Canadians to participate in the collective relay.

About RONA

RONA inc. (TSX:RON)(TSX:RON.PR.A), is the largest Canadian distributor and retailer of hardware, home renovation and gardening products and operates a network of more than 800 corporate, franchise and affiliate stores of various sizes and formats. With close to 30,000 employees working under its family of banners in every region of Canada, the RONA store network generates more than $6 billion in annual retail sales. Visit rona.ca for more information.

The photo associated with this press release is available at the following address: http://www.marketwire.com/library/20120709-RONA-FINAL-800.JPG

The infographic associated with this press release is available at the following address: http://www.marketwire.com/library/20120709-infographic_eng-800.jpg