4.4°C Fog Patches 
A new cross-country and trail running event has been designed to get more people involved in the sports and take advantage of the terrific trails in the Whistler Olympic Park.
Organized by the non-profit Callaghan Valley Sport and Cultural Society, the Whistler Spirit Run and Festival will celebrate outdoor running and grassroots participation with fun competitions on Sept. 27 and 28.
Saturday, Sept. 27, is scheduled to feature multi-distance cross-country races for runners of a variety of ages, ranging from students in Grades 2 and 3 to masters men and women and including everything in between.
Two trail runs are planned for Sunday, Sept. 28: a 10-kilometre race, and a relay event for four-person teams splitting the 10-kilometre total distance.
Cross-country races traditionally run on paths less technical and challenging than trails, but off the much-beaten tracks. Trail running, meanwhile, tackles tricky terrain and twisty routes, and has bloomed into a sport that’s quickly growing in popularity.
Meet director Ashley Weber, also a board member of the society hosting the event, said the Saturday events are geared toward runners who are already part of cross-country teams, either through schools or recreational clubs, while the Sunday races should be ideal entry points for those who have been looking to give trail running a try.
“It may be a nice introduction to trail running and off-road running,” Weber said.
Weber, a teacher and track and field coach who won the eight-kilometre race in Sunday’s (Sept. 7) Loop the Lakes trail running event, said cross-country and trail running are his passions, and he hopes the Spirit Run will encourage others to take up the sports.
Frank Reynolds, longtime coach of the NorWesters Track and Field Club on the North Shore, inspired both Weber and the event. An outstanding athlete, volunteer and leader with many teams and programs, Reynolds envisioned a running event with the kind of huge popular support drawn by cross-country meets in the U.S.
After Reynolds died of cancer a year and a half ago, the society took up his cause and found the perfect place to host such an event: the $119.7-million Whistler Olympic Park and its nearly 50 kilometres of cross-country ski trails.
“It’s beautiful, the setting is amazing… (and) the trails that are there are perfect for that kind of thing,” Weber said, referring specifically to Sunday’s rookie-oriented trail runs.
Organizers are pitching the event to experienced and beginning runners alike throughout the corridor and the Lower Mainland, Weber said, with a particular focus on school teams for the Saturday races. The event will also be ideal for those who want to try out the Olympic facilities, Weber added, as the 10-kilometre trail run course in particular will make good use of the elite area.
Typical attendance for Lower Mainland cross-country events is around 250 runners, and trail races tend to draw between 50 and 80 people, so Weber said he’s hoping to have at least that many participants. But he isn’t getting his heart set on anything, since it’s hard to make predictions for a first-time event.
With the Rubble Creek Classic trail run also set for Sunday, Sept. 28, it’s a busy weekend for the local running community. Weber said the Spirit Run organizers are hoping to draw racers from outside the more hardcore pool of runners who would normally go to the 25-kilometre Rubble Creek — he doesn’t want the events to compete with each other, since the goal is to encourage participation across the board.
For more information, or to register for the races, visit www.whistlerspiritrun.com.
