The 12th annual Fall Challenge celebrates the change in seasons for more than 250 runners and walkers Sunday.
The forecast for the Sturgeon Valley Athletic Club (SVAC) sponsored event is glorious conditions on the Red Willow trails.
“It’s the best time of the year to run,” said SVAC manager Christine Rawlins. “We love the community support and we love providing an event that’s not super competitive and it’s right here in the heart of St. Albert on the beautiful Red Willow trails.”
The Fall Challenge, which consists of a 21.1-kilometre half-marathon run/walk (two laps on the trails), 10-km run/walk (one lap) and five-km run/walk, is a fixture in the St. Albert sport scene. The majority of the participants hail from St. Albert and Sturgeon County.
“It’s local and it’s a beautiful time of the year,” said Rawlins of the event’s popularity. “For a lot of St. Albert residents it’s right in their backyard and it’s a beautiful course that is fast and flat and I think that attracts a lot of people.”
Sunday’s on-site registration for the fair weather procrastinators is between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. (cash or cheque only) at Kingswood Park, the venue site for the Fall Challenge.
There is no pre-registration for the .5-km kids’ race at 11:30 a.m.
The start times are 8 a.m. for the half-marathon walk and 9 a.m. for the half-marathon run, 10-km run/walk and five-km run/walk.
For last minute registration inquiries, contact Rawlins at 780-904-4114 or visit www.sva-club.com for more information.
Donations to the St. Albert Food Bank will also be accepted on Sunday morning.
As of Thursday, 110 half-marathon runners had registered, including a St. Albert individual listed as Slow Moe.
“There are a lot of guys that really like the speedy course,” Rawlins said.
Last year 275 participants finished the half marathon run/walk, 10-km run/walk and five-km run/walk.
The half-marathon winner was Paul St. Amant of Bonnyville in one hour, 23 minutes and 14 seconds and the fastest female was Shannon Maisano of St. Albert at 1:27:01 for third place overall out of 130 runners.
St. Amant’s status for Sunday was uncertain at press time.
Maisano, the female winner of the 2012 Edmonton Police Foundation half-marathon and the first St. Albert runner to win the female title in the St. Albert 10-Mile Road Race history two years ago, is expected to crank out a blistering 10 km pace this year.
The half-marathon field includes elite-level St. Albert athletes such as Sean Saville (2014 Leading Edge RunWild half-marathon winner at 1:23:14 and last year’s Fall Challenge runner-up at 1:23:29), Jennifer St. Pierre (11:22:14 at the 2013 Ironman Worlds as the 21st Canadian female finisher for 60th place in her 35 to 39 age division) and Celine Gannon-Dean (at the recent ITU World Triathlon Grand Final finished 52nd in her 35 to 39 female age division as the 19th highest Canadian at 2:47:50 and was 21st in the 35 to 39 female aquathlon as the eighth-best Canadian at 39:16).
Also entered in the half-marathon is Reina Ainsworth of Edmonton, last year’s female runner-up at 1:33:26 for seventh overall, and Larry Brewster of Edmonton, the second-place finisher in 2011 and 2012.
