Operun fundraiser nets more than $5,000

“I’m so excited,” said Historic Battlefords Lions Club member and event organizer Suzanne Reid. “Our community has been incredibly supportive. We hope we can get more and more community involvement, and I think we’ve done that.”

Now in its third year, the fundraiser this time is supporting upgrades to the town of Battleford walking trail – paving a portion of the route from the museum to Fort Battleford.

Traditionally, the event supports a project to upgrade space for the former opera house in the Town Hall building in Battleford.

The town is currently having a study completed to determine whether that project would be financially feasible and will be consulting with the community before making any decisions on a future use for the space.

Town of Battleford Mayor Ames Leslie showed his support for the fundraiser by competing in the 5 km race.

“It was very rewarding,” he said. “I was very skeptical whether or not I could finish the full k. (route) and I’m proud to say that I ran the whole thing… That’s just a bonus.”

He said the support for the fundraiser is “awesome.”

John Paul II school band performed at the start of the event, and Battlefords Blend choir entertained the runners on route.

David Odishaw from the Jackfish Lake area came in first in the men’s 10 km race.

He said he said he had a good run but found overcoming the last hill daunting.

“It’s hard,” he said with a laugh. He said he and his friend who also took part like to compete in many triathlons and since there isn’t one available here, the Operun was the next best option. “It’s nice when there is something put on locally to try to support it.”

People came from far and wide for the event.

A couple from Perth, Australia, Paula Karra said she and her husband Michael came to the Battlefords about 12 years ago on a working holiday, made some friends. They came back to attend a wedding, so decided to take part in the run.

“We used to run all the time when we were here,” said Paula Karra. “We had a couple of other friends who were doing it, so we thought: Why not. It’s for a good cause, and it’s a beautiful day with beautiful weather.”

Robert St. Amant from Meota who completed the 21.1 km relay route on his own has run in many marathons.

The first place winner said his Operun run was “tough” owing to the wind and the many hills to climb.

“I go and run Victoria next week… and the next one is Boston in April (2018) the 56 year old said.”It took a few years to get where I’m at. Now to maintain myself, I run close to 1,800 kilometres a year.”

The top winners in the Operun were: 2 km – Zane Miller, Mekdes Jensen, Ryan Jamieson; 5 km – Laurel Zehner, Joshua Enns-Wind; 10 km – Jeanette Hoft, David Odishaw; and in the Half Marathon – Robert St. Amant, Cyndi Jeffery.

The full results of the event are available at: www.theoperun.com

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow

by battlefordsNOW

Operun fundraiser nets more than $5,000

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