Victims of the recent Boston Marathon bombing will be honoured prior to the start of the 10 kilometre race in Sunday’s Woody’s RV Marathon.
“We are doing a moment of silence right after the playing of O Canada before the 10k to remember the people who were killed in Boston,” Woody’s RV Marathon co-chair Jason Hazlett said Thursday.
Hazlett added that the tragedy has not affected the Red Deer running community in a negative fashion.
“I don’t think so. If anything it’s probably made us stronger in that respect,” he said. “This idea of terrorism . . . do you shy away from it or do you fight it and show that you’re not going to be scared by it? I think we’re seeing the latter here in Red Deer.
“I have friends who have qualified for the Boston Marathon and they’re bound and determined to head to Boston next year.”
Matt Richards of Red Deer and Julian Price of Sylvan Lake ran in this year’s Boston Marathon and are also entered in the 15th Annual Woody’s RV Marathon, which starts (at 8 a.m.) and finishes at Camille J. Lerouge school.
A total of 1,604 runners had registered for the 2013 Marathon as of Thursday morning, with 1,004 from Central Alberta, including 575 from Red Deer.
Of the runners who have confirmed their entry, 183 will be in the full marathon, 910 in the half marathon and 505 in the 10k race. The number includes defending men’s and women’s full marathon champions Brendan Lunty of Camrose and Ronnie Rouse of Calgary, half marathon defending men’s champ Dusty Spiller of Red Deer, and Jordanna Cota of Red Deer, the top female in the 2012 10k run.
The 10k run, introduced in 2011, continues to grow in popularity. Hazlett noted that the event sold out in February.
“To have 500 runners and to fill that within three months is absolutely incredible,” he said. “The number of new runners that we see all over the trails in Red Deer is fantastic. I see new runners all the time and I run on the trails just about every day. It’s fantastic for the city.”
Registration for the half marathon has dropped slightly from 2012, however . . .
“We have a bit of a dip in the half, but interestingly enough we actually have more runners in the full this year,” said Hazlett. “The way you can look at it is some of the runners in the half are graduating up to the full marathon, which is great to see.”
The Woody’s RV Marathon is ranked by Alberta Athletics as the third-best road race in Alberta. Hazlett sees the course, which winds through the Waskasoo Park system, as a big reason for the lofty rating.
“What we constantly hear from runners is that our trails make this race one of the best, that this is not your typical road race,” said Hazlett. “We are a race within the city, but not within the city where you don’t see the traffic and so forth. You just see the river off to your left and to your right as you run the course.”
This year’s Woody’s Marathon will again feature runners young and old. The youngest runner, a seven-year-old boy, will participate in the 10k event, while the oldest — 75-year-old Roger MacMillan of Fort Saskatchewan — is returning to run the full marathon.
“I know that I’ve chatted with this gentleman (MacMillan) several times when he’s finished the marathon and he loves coming to the Woody’s,” said Hazlett. “And to have 10 12-year-olds entered in the 10k is amazing to see. Good for them.”
l The Central Alberta Ronald McDonald House is the Woody’s Marathon charity of choice for the third consecutive year.
“We certainly couldn’t support a better organization,” said Hazlett. “We did a tour of the House last year and it’s absolutely incredible for what it provides people visiting our hospital here in Red Deer.”
l Calgary gymnast Kyle Shewfelt, a three-time Olympian who won a gold medal for Canada at the 2004 Athens Games, is the keynote speaker for the pre-race pasta dinner Saturday at the Black Knight Inn.
l The vast majority of registered participants (1,515) are from Alberta, with 26 coming from Saskatchewan, 16 from B.C., two from each of Newfoundland and Ontario and one from each of the Northwest Territories, Florida, Iowa, Idaho, Pennsylvania, Texas and Utah.
l Each event will offer new medals this year commemorating the 15th year of the Marathon.