Ready, set, run: registration is now open for the Big Bang Mud Run

By Laura Bohnert

Ready to run? The first ever Big Bang Mud Run is set to take place on Saturday, October 3, 2015, at 11 a.m.

The event will begin at the Whitecourt and District Forest Interpretive Centre. From there, a busing system will take the runners 10 km outside of Whitecourt where they will run through the wilderness of Woodlands County. “There will be amazing scenery and, hopefully, lots of mud,” states Woodlands County Mayor Jim Rennie.

The halfway point of the race will circle the title feature of the run: the 1,100-year-old meteorite crater, the youngest site in Canada.

The meteorite was discovered by a local Whitecourt resident in 2007. “Since then,” explains Rennie, “a number of people have inquired about how to get to the site, and we’re afraid to tell them because of the potential for them to get lost. The Big Bang Mud Run provides us with a means of taking 300 people on a tour to see the site safely.”

The race will feature two different routes — “the big bang and the really big bang,” Rennie explains — both of which will circle the meteorite crater. Runners will be able to choose between the eight and 12 km routes.

This year’s Big Bang Mud Run, a joint event between Woodlands County and the Town of Whitecourt, will be the 1st ever event, although it is planned to become an annual event.

“The Run is a chance for us to celebrate physical fitness,” says Rennie, “and it also represents an opportunity for Whitecourt and Woodlands County to come together.”

Rennie also emphasizes the importance of holding events that attract visitors into the community: “We have come to realize that any time we can get people out of Edmonton to our community once, they always come back again. We have great recreation opportunities and trails, and if we can get 300 families here once then, hopefully, we can convince them to come back for our many recreation opportunities.”

However, if the opportunity to tour Whitecourt and Woodlands County’s scenery and to explore the meteorite crater aren’t enough, then maybe Mayor Rennie’s final teaser will peak your interest: “at the finish line, the winners of the 1st annual Big Bang Mud Run will be presented with something no other race in the entire world offers — but only the racers who take part will get to find that out.”

Registration went live this past week, and signup will be capped at 300 people, so if you are interested in getting involved in the run, visit The Running Room website or the Town and County websites and start registering now. You must be 14 or older to participate.