The 10th annual Coal Country Run was the biggest yet, as a total of 180 entrants competed in the event at Woodlawn Regional Park on Saturday.
Debby Knight, who is one of the organizers of the event, said they had 155 adults who braved the strong winds and registered for the five-kilometre or the 10-kilometre runs, and two teams with a total of nine competitors who signed up for a 21.1-kilometre relay. One relay team had five members and the other had four.
Sixteen children competed in the annual mini-mile.
“The weather wasn’t ideal for running, but it seemed like there was lots of smiling faces … after it was over with, other than mine,” said Knight.
This year had more adult runners than before, but fewer children signed up for the mini-mile. The sliding numbers for the mini mile has been a trend for a few years, Knight said.
Participants ran, jogged or walked distances of five kilometres and 10 kilometres in and around the park. Drink stations were set up so they could have a brief break.
“We had some really speedy people, and we had some records as far as time,” said Knight.
While full results were not available as of Mercury press time, Knight noted the top finisher in the five-kilometre run completed the course in 23 minutes and 48 seconds, while the best time in the 10-kilometre run was 39:15, which she called “amazingly fast.”
“They all seemed to love the course down there, so I can’t see us moving off of there, because it is beautiful,” said Knight.
The electronic timing system they acquired for this year’s run didn’t work, so they had to tabulate the results the traditional fashion. Everyone was looking forward to seeing it operational, so Knight is confident it will be operating eventually.
She apologized to the runners for the issues, and asked them to give the Coal Country Run a second chance next year.
Knight noted every runner received what they called an Awesome Stone, which is a stone from this area that was hand-polished by Murray Arnold of North Portal.
The event also offered a health and wellness expo at Rotary Park’s building, which had nearly 20 vendors promoting how they can contribute to a healthy lifestyle.
For the first time, a pasta supper was served the night before the run. It was held at the TS&M Woodlawn Golf Club’s clubhouse, and 45 people were in attendance.
Proceeds from the run will be directed towards the new Fresh Air Fitness initiative, which will bring an outdoor fitness area to the park. Knight said the initial estimate is the run raised about $6,000.
The competitors ran and walked by the Fresh Air Fitness site, although she’s not sure if they were aware what it was, because it’s tucked behind trees, and there isn’t any equipment out there just yet.
“But there should be some equipment down there in a couple of weeks,” said Knight.
