It was the perfect day for a run, and many of the participants seemed to agree, with smiling faces in every direction at this year’s Fit for Motion Half Marathon.
The hope was to raise money for the new aquatic centre, and to simply get Barrhead outdoors and active.
According to Murray Tuininga, organizer of Fit for Motion, the event was a triathlon for four years, but due to the pool being cancelled, was ran as a marathon this year instead.
“We started planning the triathlon,” Murray said, adding that they had taken all the necessary courses for it to run as such, but with the pool being closed, decided to speak with the committee of the event and discuss the issue.
“We said we have momentum going so let’s see if we can at least keep something going to promote health and wellness in the town of Barrhead,” Murray said.
Simone Tuininga was also one of the organizers of the event, and said that she was very happy with the turnout at the event this year.
“We had a goal of 100 in mind, and we had 102 participants, so we reached that goal this year. Every time you do something new it takes a little bit,” Murray said.
“We are very happy,” Simone added.
Murray said that they were pleased to see how many locals came out to the event, adding that when it was a triathlon it was more distant participants than local.
“It is nice to see a grass roots sort of town get involved in an event again,” Murray said.
“The support for the event was awesome, it was really, really good,” Simone said. “More than we could have asked for.”
Runners started at the United Church and worked their way along a circuit that totaled approximately five kilometers. Four laps would equal 21.1 kilometers, the total distance of the half marathon.
There were several options for runners. They could run in teams of four, two, or solo.
The winners received medals, one for each of the top three men and women solo runners.
The first place men’s solo runner was Mark Loogman, with a total time of one hour, 36 minutes, and 13 seconds.
The second place men’s solo runner was Andrew Slessor, his total time was one hour, 38 minutes, and 12 seconds.
For the third place slot, Ken Dievert claimed the title. His time was one hour, 39 minutes, and 27 seconds.
For the women’s first place solo runner position, Marge Tauscher claimed the win. Her total time was one hour, 43 minutes and 50 seconds, followed shortly by Annette Cartwright, with her time of one hour, 48 minutes, and 57 seconds.
The third place women’s solo runner was Coreen Rivard, her time totaling one hour, 49 minutes, and two seconds.
The Chocolateers were the winners of the two person team, sisters Hope Meier, and Jen Erickson could be seen hugging each other with excitement after hearing of their first place slot.
Short of Breath proved not to be so, after winning the four person team portion of the half marathon. Travis Strochinski, Randall Breitkreitz, Corey McKort, and Chris Mack each ran the approximate five kilometers with an overall time of one hour, 41 minutes, and 25 seconds.
