Harvest Festival 25K set
Road race begins in Stanchel and finishes in Kensington
Road race begins Saturday in Stanchel and finishes in Kensington.
One of P.E.I.’s most demanding and longest-running road races takes place on Saturday.
The 44th annual Kensington Community Harvest Festival 25-kilometre event, sponsored by the Malpeque Bay Credit Union, begins at the Church of Scotland at 9 Monument Road in Stanchel at 8:30 a.m. Known as the “Killer Course,” the race features steep and challenging hills early in the race as it winds its way into Kinkora, before turning towards Kensington and finishing at the Alysha Toombs Memorial Park in front of Community Gardens.
The race always attracts a good crowd of spectators to the finish line, and the public is encouraged to greet and cheer on the runners.
Course records
It has been a few years since a course record fell. Former Kensington IntermediateSenior High School athletic director Stanley Chaisson established the current male and overall standard of one hour 25 minutes 51 seconds (1:25:51) in 2007.
Jen Nicholson set the female course record of 1:42:02 in 2008.
The 2016 winners were Mike MacKinnon of Miscouche with a time of 1:35:15, and Jennie Orr of Rustico was the top female. Orr completed the course in 1:57:32 – good for 11th overall in the 53-runner field.
Registration
Registration will take place at Community Gardens on Friday, Aug. 18, from 6 to 8 p.m., and again on race day at the Church of Scotland from
7:30 to 8:20 a.m. The entry fee is $30. The P.E.I. Roadrunners Club has sanctioned the race, and it’s a Hashem’s Variety/ P.E.I. Roadrunners Point Series race.
For more information on this year’s race, email organizer Darby McCormick at darbymccormick@gmail.com.