More than 190 participants made their way to the Rotary Trail in Prince Albert on Saturday for the 2024 Summit Run.
Race Director Lisa Evans says she was very pleased with the turnout for the event.
“It went off really well. We were excited that the sun was shining because the weather hasn’t been fantastic in June, it was nice to see that for the runners. We had 190 participants and it was fantastic.
“This is the 17th annual summit run and we started it 19 years ago. There were two years where we had a gap because of pandemic restrictions. So it was nice to see that up and going for the community again.”
Since the founding of the event, the Summit Run has raised over $120,000 for various charities in and around Prince Albert.
This year, the Summit Run was donating funds to the Ronald McDonald House Charities who are building a new house at the Victoria Hospital in Prince Albert, with construction anticipated to complete in 2026.
Evans says the mission of Ronald McDonald House lined up with some of the other charities that the run has donated to in the past.
“It just seemed like it was a good match. We were discussing as runners how we’re lucky to have our health and fitness. In previous years, we had donated to the Rotary Trail for many years and brought that to completion. Rose Garden Hospice was one of our previous charities and so now on the other end of the spectrum of beginning of life struggles, I think we thought it would be great to help the Ronald McDonald home see if we can get that going for the community.”
The Summit Run featured 2 km, 5 km and 10 km divisions that participants were allowed to run or walk in. All races originated on River Street East near 13th Avenue. The route then went onto the Rotary Trail with course marshalls indicating turnaround points for the various distances. Water stations and porta potties were also available every 3 km.
Evans says the Summit Run was attempting to accommodate to as many participants as possible.
“We can have people that can walk those distances or run them. Within the running community, we have recreational runners who are coming out for the social aspect of running. We have runners that are really competitive, that are coming out for the specifics of the race that way as well. It appeals to all levels of fitness.”
Final fundraising totals for the 2024 Summit Run have not yet been announced.
sports@paherald.sk.ca
