To East City and back again
Forty years in, YMCA’s popular annual winter run introduces a new main route
The YMCA Half-Marathon is celebrating its 40th year as a fixture on the Peterborough winter sports scene on Sunday.
Since 1979 the race has been marked on the calendar of many Ontario runners as the first distance race of the season. It’s also raised funds to support the YMCA of Central Eastern Ontario’s Strong Kids Campaign, funding summer camp and Y programs for children who need financial assistance. Organizers are anticipating nearly 800 participants this year.
Jeff Crowe ran his first half-marathon in 1980 and has been involved ever since. This is his 10th year as race director.
“We’re excited. Forty years is a long time for a race to be actively going,” said Crowe. “It’s a big milestone for everybody.”
There are several reasons for its longevity, he said.
“It’s the first winter run of the year which is a big thing,” said Crowe. “Even though it’s the middle of the winter a lot of people do it as a stepping stone leading up to a spring marathon.”
It’s also for a good cause, he said. “It’s one of the Y’s biggest fundraisers for the Strong Kids Campaign.”
To mark the anniversary organizers decided to create a new route for 2018 after using the same route for nine years. There are also some practical reasons for the change which now takes Lansdowne Street off the map, easing some concerns about traffic and runner safety. The runners of the half-marathon will also do a double-loop of the 10.55-kilometre course, meaning fewer streets tied up and fewer volunteers needed to marshall the route.
“The Half-a-Half runners will do the same route but the half-marathon runners will do a double-loop,” said Crowe.
The race will start and finish in front of the YMCA on Aylmer St. Off the start runners will proceed north to Hunter St. where they will turn right and proceed to Armour Rd. They’ll turn north on Armour to McFarlane St. where they’ll go east and across the single-lane bridge to Ashburnham Drive where they’ll run south to Maria St.
Traffic may be affected on some streets during the race.
There is a turnaround point at Maria where runners will again head north on Ashburnham to the Lift Lock where they will turn left on Hunter. They’ll proceed through the tunnel and across the bridge to Aylmer where they’ll turn south for a dash to the finish line.
“People were looking for a change ,” said Crowe. “Since it’s our 40th anniversary it was time for a different route. With Lansdowne Street we were on a major thoroughfare so that was one consideration. We had a good talk with all the people involved in it like the city traffic engineers, the police, board of works and bus people. It was a compromise.”
There are four races in total. In addition to the half-marathon there is the BrandHealth Half-a-Half, the Accuped 5K and Wildrock Outfitters Kids Super Hero 1K where each child is given a super hero cape. Canadian Tire Pitstop on Lansdowne Street is sponsoring the half-marathon medals, BrandHealth the half-ahalf medals and Assante Wealth Management the 5K medals. The 5k race runs north on Aylmer and east on Hunter to a turnaround spot near Burnham Street and back the way they came.
The children’s race starts at noon with the half-marathon and Half-aHalf starting together at 12:25 p.m. and the 5k at 12:35 p.m.
Registration and race kit pickup starts Saturday between 2-5 p.m. at the YMCA and Sunday from 9 a.m. to noon.
Crowe has informed the YMCA this will be his final year as race director.
“I’ve said that for a few years,” said Crowe, with a laugh. “I couldn’t step away this year with it being my 10th as race director and 40th for the race. That’s why I stayed.”
For more race information visit http://ymcaofceo.ca/half-marathon-half-a-half-5k-1k-kidsrun/