About 100 people will scramble through St. Albert this weekend to win prizes and support the city’s shops and food bank.
They will be in the starting blocks this Saturday (May 31) for the 2025 Amazing Race — St. Albert Edition. Organized by Blackmore Real Estate, this event will see up to 50 teams of two race to decipher clues and complete challenges at 30 St. Albert businesses in hopes of winning prizes. Proceeds from the race will support the St. Albert Food Bank and St. Albert Community Foundation.
Blackmore Real Estate realtor and race organizer Kent Clark said he previously ran this event in 2018-19 when he was with Re/Max, but stopped it because of the COVID-19 pandemic. After much preparation, he’s ready to re-launch the race this weekend as a way to promote local businesses and support the community.
Clark said the race was modelled on the reality TV show The Amazing Race, which sees contestants race around the world as they solve clues and take on challenges. Instead of going from place to place in a specific order as in the show, Clark said contestants in this weekend’s event will start with a list of clues to the 30-odd stops on the race to decipher so they can plan their routes. Teams that donate to the St. Albert Food Bank prior to the start of the race will get to phone a friend to help crack the clues.
Clark said racers will have to complete challenges at each stop to earn stamps on their passports. Past challenges have seen competitors dress up in costumes, complete VR games, and blast balls with leaf blowers. The first three teams to cross the finish line (the location of which must be deciphered from the clues) with a finished passport will win prizes.
Clark encouraged competitors to dress up, as there were prizes for best costumes.
“Last time we did it, a couple of guys were dressed up like Indiana Jones,” he noted.
Clark said the race will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Children’s Bridge near Red Willow Place. He hoped the race would be a fun time for everyone involved and help local businessowners find new customers.
St. Albert Food Bank executive director Suzan Krecsy said she is thrilled to be involved with this year’s race and looks forward to telling contestants more about the food bank.
“The number of families needing our help continues to be very high, so this fundraiser is very timely,” she said, noting the Food Bank fed almost 1,900 people last month alone.
The race has an $80 entry fee. Visit www.facebook.com/blackmorerealestate for details.
