The lakecity’s biggest running event of the summer, the Second Annual KidSport Classic, left participants and spectators smiling and cheering Sunday after runners and walkers crossed the finish line in Boitanio Park.
A total of 221 participants turned out for the race at 8 a.m., along with countless spectators, to enjoy the day.
“At the end of the day everything went very smoothly,” said chair of the Williams Lake KidSport chapter, Denise Skarra. “It was a beautiful route. All the runners loved it.”
This year’s route for the half-marathon, relay and 10-kilometre walk and run featured a course section along CN Rail’s service road between the RC Cotton lands and Dutch Point Road.
“Watching all the runners going back and forth on the CN Rail property was really neat,” Skarra said. “Hats off to CN for allowing us to do this.”
Out of the 221 registrants, 45 were either high school or elementary school students, combining for an additional 13 teams in the event.
“We had a team from Chilcotin Road [elementary], eight teams from Mountview [elementary], two from Cataline [elementary] and a Sacred Heart team. There was a high school team, too,” Skarra said.
Upon arriving back at the finish line in Boitanio Park race participants were treated to an awards ceremony where refreshments, entertainment, awards and draw prizes were offered.
“I don’t think we had any injuries the whole day, no one got lost, and we were very happy with the number of runners and how the run went overall,” Skarra said.
The KidSport Classic is used to help raise money for the Williams Lake and area KidSport chapter. KidSport provides funds to cover the costs of sport registration for kids who might not otherwise get the chance to play sports.
While fundraising totals aren’t yet available for this year, last year’s KidSport Classic raised $1,500. KidSport Classic hats from this year’s event are still being sold at the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex.
Race categories included: corporate relay, family relay, high school relay, elementary relay, 10-39 years relay, men’s 40 years plus 10-kilometre, men’s 19-39 10-kilometre, men’s under 18 10-kilometre, men’s 40 years plus half-marathon, men’s 19-39 half-marathon, men’s under 18 half-marathon, women’s 40 years plus 10-kilometre, women’s 19-39 10-kilometre, women’s under 18 10-kilometre, women’s 40 years plus half-marathon and women’s 19-39 half-marathon.
For race results visit www.activewilliamslake.com.