IROQUOIS – Organizers of the first ever Iroquois Green Run couldn’t have been happier with the turnout for the April 13th event at the locks at Iroquois Point.
“This is the perfect day for a run,” said co-chair Kara Glauser, who along with Kassondra Tibben, organized the races.
Glauser said before the first event of the day that 12 runners were signed up for the one kilometre children’s event, and 68 for the five kilometre adult and family events. “More were signing up today though,” she said.
Except for a bit of wind, the sun shone and the day was the most “spring-like” seen so far this year, with temperatures just over 10 degrees Celsius.
The children’s event course took racers around the perimeter of the park area at the locks, while the longer adult course had runners run past the boat houses to the Iroquois Beach and return.
Nine-year-old Parker Dake, from Cardinal, won the children’s race with a time of 3 minutes and 59.18 seconds. He raced along with his younger sister Abigail.
“It was a lot of fun,” Dake said after the race.
“I liked it a lot,” said six-year-old Jack Stone from Johnstown.
In the five kilometre race, Alain Fortier finished in first place with a time of 18 minutes and 20.4 seconds. Fortier, 26, is a corporal with the Royal Canadian Air Force and is stationed at CFB Trenton. He said the race was an easy one for him to choose to run.
“My grandma, Marjorie Patterson, lives in Iroquois and so I got to run a good race, and also go see her,” Fortier said.
Finishing second was Will Campeau from Spencerville. Campeau, a Grade 10 cross-country runner, won the Tubie Duathalon in August 2018 in Morrisburg.
For some, it wasn’t about winning, rather, doing something together as a family.
“We came down from Ottawa for this,” said Jennifer Menard, who raced as a family with her husband Stephane, along with sons Troy and Noah. “I was looking for a running event for us, and I liked the idea of this being in support of Earth Day.”
Proceeds from the Green Run event are being donated to Earth Day Canada, a national charity that works to connect youth with nature and promotes outdoor play for children.
Instead of receiving medals or t-shirts for running in the race, participants were given white pine tree seedlings from the Ferguson Forestry Centre in Kemptville.
Encouraged by the turnout for this inaugural event, Glauser said that she estimated nearly $3,000 was raised this year. She wants to make this an annual spring event.