Canadians Breaking Record Support of RONA's 'Plant Your Feet' Collective Relay

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - July 19, 2012) - On July 10, RONA, a proud National partner of the Canadian Olympic Team, invited Canadians to 'Plant Your Feet' running its 5,515 km collective relay - the distance from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic coast. In recognition of Canada's support for our athletes, RONA committed to planting a tree for every kilometer run. Canadians sprinted out of the starting blocks with world-class speed, covering the distance in only 72 hours - the equivalent of running 76 km every hour for three entire days.

"We are overwhelmed by the enthusiastic participation from across the country," says Karim Salabi, Executive Vice President, Marketing at RONA. "With the original goal now met, we are now challenging Canadians to reach 40,075 km and beyond - the distance around the earth at the equator! " He added that to thank participants for their immense support, RONA will extend its support of reforestation programs across Canada, and will continue to plant a tree for every kilometre logged in the collective relay.

To date, Quebec residents have run the farthest distance, travelling over 4,800 km - roughly the distance from Quebec City to London. Following in second place is Ontario, with over 2,000 km run, while British Columbia ranks third so far, with over 1,700 km logged. However, there is still time for any province to take the lead, as the program runs until August 9^th.

"RONA is proud to be able to contribute to communities across Canada and the outstanding support RONA is receiving from Canadians is a testament to our national pride," says Robert Dutton, President and CEO at RONA. "As Canadians, we step up to support one another and the 'Plant Your Feet' campaign is a great example of this. Way to go and thank you, Canada!"

Participants still have an opportunity to share their journey with their online network via the RONA Facebook page and use of the Twitter hashtag, #RONAruns. And are encouraged to run every day until the program is complete. Please visit gocanada2012.rona.ca to log your kilometers and participate in the Plant Your Feet program.

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.