Run 4 Fun

The annual Run 4 Fun was held last Saturday and with the weather co-operating, it brought out over 300 participants and many fans to cheer them on. The event is a spin-off of the Fallen 4 Marathon which began in 2005 and continued to 2015. The marathon, originally organized as a way to commemorate the four local RCMP officers who lost their lives that fateful day in Mayerthorpe while on duty.

For those who wanted to push themselves to the limit, there was the half marathon run, which is just over 20 kilometres long and began at 8 a.m. Participants made their way from the Allan & Jean Millar Centre around the outer edge of the hilltop residential area, through the trails and bike paths giving the run a more technical twist leading them to the Forest Interpretive Centre and eventually back to the starting point. For others who just wanted to get out and be active, there was a 10 kilometre or a five kilometre run. Tears of joy fell on a few faces as some runners cried after crossing over the finish line. It was a tremendous and overwhelming feat accomplishing such a run.

Pat Armstrong and Christine Stunzi traveled from Edson to enter the run. The ladies were trying to achieve their personal goals of a triple crown which, for them, is to complete runs in Edson, Hinton, and Whitecourt. Armstrong said, “I did have a few issues with breathing due to the smoke, but I feel very good that I finished the five kilometre run.” Another group that stood out were ladies from the Flex Fitness group who called themselves Smokin’ Laces with shirts to match. Kim Furlong and Angela Brown organized some of the gym members and a few friends to participate in the 10 kilometre run. The more, the merrier as it was just for fun with these ladies.

Some of the children ran beside their parents in the five-kilometre run while others went on their own and signed up for the children’s marathon. This run was among the favourite of all the spectators who cheered them on. Small children as young as five years old gave it a go as they ran four laps around the track at Hilltop High School. Most were quite excited to get off the starting line while others were a bit more skeptical and worried about being able to complete such a feat. But it’s not about whether you finish, it’s that you participated and had fun and exercise while doing it.

In the parking lot ice cream treats, fruit, water, and muffins which were all donated were available to the participants after completing the run.

Janalle Owens, who is employed by the Allan & Jean Millar Centre, was on site in the parking lot encouraging runners to sign up for the Canada wide Participation Community Challenge. The Town of Whitecourt signed up with the challenge in hopes of winning the Most active community title. Residents can get the app and register themselves where they will track and input their daily minutes of physical activity. Every minute is tallied from May 31 to June 16 and can be anything from mowing your lawn to walking your dog. To sign up, go the website www.participaction.ca. You must use your Whitecourt postal code for minutes to go towards the final tally for the community.