The runners and walkers can say they did it, a local charity can now provide more community support, and the organizers can give themselves a pat on the back for a job well done.
Band on the Run, the incredibly popular road race that sells out every year, saw 2,100 participants take to the streets of Huntsville to complete one of four routes. Ninety-seven kids raced all out in the one-kilometre kids run, more than 1000 people – 858 runners and 269 walkers – completed the 5K, another 646 doubled that effort on the 10K, and a hardy 230 souls braved the half-marthon.
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- Siblings Maxwell and Lily Perry brought some good cheer vibes to Saturday morning’s event.
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- Robot Trillium, built by the Hoyas Robotics team, joined in the fun, too
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- Kids taking part in the Kids Fun Run in the Band on the Run event take off at great speed.
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- Friendly volunteers cycled the route to help runners – most were on two wheels but there was one unicycle in the group!
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- Ain’t she fancy? Volunteer Jane Wolfe was all smiles (and enthusiasm) on her bike at Band on the Run.
Top Male Runner 5K: Jamie Hancock of Oakville, 20:01 (pace 4:02/km)
View all 5K results here
Top Female Runner, 10K: Shannen Murray of Brucefield, 40:19 (pace 4:02/km)
Top Male Runner, 10K: Thomas MacIntosh of Whitby, 40:53 (pace 4:06/km)
View all 10K results here
Top Male Runner, Half-Marthon: Fernando Carvalho of Bradford, 1:20:57 (pace 3:51/km)
Top Female Runner, Half-Marathon: Helen Dempster of Port Syndey, 1:30:18 (pace 4:14/km)
View all Half Marathon Results
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- Algonquin Outfitters staff defintely proved their strength by participating in a race with canoes strapped to them. That is a loooooong portage!
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- It’s all about having fun for this group of Huntsville ladies.
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- The 5K runners were the largest group with more than 800 registered. Here they head up Townline Road past Conroy Park.
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- Dogs are welcome at Band on the Run, as long as they are leashed and under control. This pooch got a break on the 5K run.
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- Fun signs along the routes encouraged runners with some humour
The organizers logged a lot of steps, too, making sure that everything ran smoothly. Justine Brown, Melissa Key, Rob Horton and Sarah Marshall took 19,687, 30,030, 31,963 and 37,205 steps respectively.
Every year the event raises funds for a local cause – this year’s beneficiary is Community Living Huntsville, which provides supports and advocacy for individuals with developmental disabilities. As incentive for fundraising, a group of firefighters from the Huntsville Lake of Bays fire department agree to run a kilometre in full gear for every $1,000 raised. There are still some donations rolling in, but this year’s total is $13,713.
Kudos to top team fundraisers Five O’Clock Somewhere ($750), Team Dorset – 50 Shades of Red ($620), Inclusion in Motion ($510) and What the Hill? ($320), and top individual fundraisers Josee Hammill ($600), Sandy Carlin ($315), Chantal Hamilton ($245) and Heather Law ($220). Large donations also came in from Bob Bulloch ($1000) and Cogeco ($750)
The run was followed by a musical festival in Memorial Park featuring local band Laganza, Plants and Animals and headliner Hey Rosetta!
Racer entries included a ticket to the post-run music festival. First up was local band Laganza (pictured here) followed by Plants and Animals and headliner Hey Rosetta!
Note: this post has been updated to correct distances travelled
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Wow! What a fantastic event. I bring several friends up every year to participate and this event has singlehandedly introduced me to (and kept me coming back) to Huntsville several times each summer. Keep it up Band on the Run. We love your event from London, ON!
Thanks, Rob! We’ve updated that information.
Thanks for the great article. As one of the co-organizers, I am very proud of the volunteers and the local businesses that help put on this community event.
Just one minor correction – 255,858 km was the total distance travelled by participants to get to the event. The total distance run or walked by all registered participants was actually 16,968 km based on total registrants and their respective race distances. That’s the equivalent of running across Canada from Victoria, BC to St John’s, Newfoundland more than 3 times!
A few more fun facts: The average distance travelled by each participant was 126km. 43.4% of participants were locals (within 40km of downtown Huntsville) – that’s 912 people. That means 1188 people travelled more than 40km to participate in the morning running event.