The Melfort Multi-K has opened for registration for the 12th year.
Since the race began in 2011 it has become a tradition in the community, and race director Allison Rogers said that trend looks like it will hold for this year’s race, which is scheduled for Sept. 14.
“We have 85 registered so far since May 1 so that’s pretty good,” Rogers said. “It is a good start. We increased the price a little bit, so we were a little nervous about that.”
The price is $40 until July 1 and then goes up to $50 until Sept. 11. Despite the raising of the price slightly, Rogers said it’s still a good deal.
“It was really cheap to start with,” Rogers explained. “When we compared it to a lot of races happening in the province and around the country, $25 to get what they get is pretty cheap.
“It’s still pretty reasonable like in terms of an event, so we think it’s worth it,” she added.
Rogers said the race has developed a loyal following over the years. She’s confident people will continue to stick with the race.
“It is just that everything costs more,” she explained. “There’s no way around it. The timing (timekeepers’ cost) has gone up drastically and the cost of the medals has gone up. It’s just the way of the world right now, unfortunately. Hopefully it doesn’t hurt us, but so far it’s
pretty good response.”
Rogers said she could not recall how many registrations they had on opening days in the past few years but this was a pretty excellent start.
The cost increase isn’t the only change for this year’s event. The date has also moved. The Multi-K is on Saturday, Sept. 14, which is a week earlier than it traditionally has been.
“It’s probably a week earlier than we would have wanted. We have been a little bit later typically, but our timing company does the Queen City Marathon in Regina, so in order for them to do ours, they wanted it to be the next weekend because they just stay in
Saskatchewan,” Rogers said.
The timing company is based out of British Columbia. The early bird registration is available until July 1. The race includes a free 1k, 5, 10 and 21K race Castle Northland Building Supply is returning as the sponsor for the 1K. This is free to 150 children age 10 and under. This year instead of a free t-shirt for the 1K the committee is putting together a prize package.
“They’re going to get a bag with a bunch of fun goodies for them. That’ll be something different…. We thought we’d try it and see how it goes. We’ve done the T-shirt for 11 to12 years, so we thought something different might be good.”
The 5K, 10K is run or walk and the half marathon 21.1K is a run. Each distance has a limit,with 150 for the 1K, 275 for the 5K, 75 for the 10K and 50 for the half marathon.
“We’ve changed the limits a little bit,” Rogers said. “We’ve seen a trend to more 5K’s and 10K’s so we kind of adjusted it that way. We probably will reassess once we get a little bit closer.”
Rogers explained that once they order medals the limits will be set. Registration is available online at www.melfortmultik.ca and it opened on May 1.
“It’s a pretty easy process there, especially if you’ve done it before,” Rogers said. “You just sign in and you can load up your whole family in one cart and pay once at the end.”
The race is also continuing to honour those who have crossed the finish line 5 and 10 times with the 5X and 10X Club.
The race will start at 8:30 a.m. with opening ceremonies, warmup and the 1K followed by the 21.1K and then the 10K and 5K races beginning from the starting line at the Kerry Vickar Centre.
“We try to keep it the same, especially the route and all that kind of stuff,” Rogers said.
“Then they know what to expect. We had a beautiful day last year. It was absolutely beautiful weather wise. Couldn’t have asked for too much better, so it would be great if we could have that again.”
She added that the climbing wall is returning, which is always a hit.
“It always comes around faster than I think it’s going to, but here we are, registrations open,”
Rogers said.
The mandate of the race is to get people active as it was envisioned by Multi-K founder andformer Melfort doctor Richard Van Der Ross.
Michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
