In an event where the number of females overwhelmingly outnumbered that of the males, the 5th Annual Health Foundation Charity Road Race took place in Yorkton very early on a Sunday morning.
Ross Fisher, executive director of the Health Foundation, said following the completion of the races that the ratio of women/girls to men/boys was double.
The ratio of females to males was 2:1, noted Fisher.
The total turnout for the morning was 252 people registered to compete in a series of races.
He said the race was held in conjunction with the Learn to Run clinics which had been held each week from May up until early August.
Fisher said the intention was to get as many people up and running in an effort to promote exercise.
"We put them on together with the Learn to Run clinics to help people get exercise."
The Road Race from Sunday was part of the Timex Road Race Series and Yorkton was the destination on Sunday.
There was a kids race for those 12 and under, which was 3km long, a 5km race and two-10km races.
Fisher said that most of the runners are out "just to finish the race".
It's a little bit of fun with the corporate relay," he smiled, adding that it's "not necessarily a competitive race."
The races began in the front parking lot of the Yorkton Regional High School and included a handful of both past and current high school students from the YRHS and Sacred Heart.
"It gives you a mix," said Fisher of the assortment of races.
"This year I think we had 252 people register."
Participants came from the surrounding areas of Canora, Esterhazy, Regina, Saskatoon, Melville, and many from the City of Yorkton, observed Fisher.
He noted that while the race is mostly to help those involved stay in good shape, he added that there is an "element of competition".
He added that it's a good route with a variety of twists and turns.
"It was another good day," he closed, before thanking everybody for participating in the event.
This year's Road Race is expected to raise $41,100 he said, and is generated by pledges that are collected by the participants. The money will go towards the new regional hospital.
There were more out this year then last year and participants were able to raise $26,000 in pledges, said Fisher.
This was the second year for the corporate relay as part of the Road Race and it attracted 11 teams, up from seven last summer.
The TA Foods team won the relay race with a time of 40:45. The team consisted of Jeff Crossman, Bailey Popowich, Lana McInnes and Michael Popowich.
The Crestvue Ambulance team , consisting of Courtney Aitken, Katelyn Bucsis, Colin Niebergall and Dallas Schwartz raised the most money, said Fisher, with pledges of $2,425. He noted that it's becoming more of a family affair.
"This year saw a wide range of participants with children five-years-old to runners in their 70s as well as parents pushing babies in strollers. There were many people just trying to finish the run, and of course, there were the competitive runners."
Among the race winners was Matthijs Wenning, of the YRHS who finished first in the 5km race (boys), Brandey Blahut, also of the YRHS, placed first in the 5km (girls), said Wenning, as well as former YRHS student Blayze Tkachuk came in third in the 5km.
