LPS charity run enjoys plenty of support

On Saturday we held our fifth annual Lethbridge Police Service charity run and I want to personally congratulate all the runners who crossed the finish line. This year we had 643 registrants — the most ever — and all the money raised (we’re still tallying it up) will benefit Special Olympics.

To our generous sponsors, thank you for your support and to the many volunteers — police and community — none of this would have been possible without you. I also want to give a shout out and big thanks to the Lethbridge Fire Department who were at the finish line cooking up a recovery breakfast of champions!

Planning and successfully executing a large event takes a lot of hard work, commitment and dedication and I am proud of all my sworn and non-sworn employees and everyone in the community who came together to make our “fifth year running” such a huge success.

This year I was able to really get an up close look at the event along with Fire Chief Rich Hildebrand, Blood Tribe Chief Kyle Melting Tallow and a consortium from the Lethbridge Sport Council who were touring members of the Can-Am Police/Fire Games committee through Lethbridge and southern Albert as part of the City’s bid to host the games in the future.

For those who aren’t familiar, the Can-Am Police Fire Games promotes physical fitness and camaraderie among emergency and protective services personnel. The games are held every two years in cities throughout Canada and the U.S. and include a variety of sporting events from the Toughest Competitor and Toughest Firefighter Alive competitions to running, shooting, K9, swimming, cycling and more. Having attended a few of the games over the years I can tell you they are quite impressive to see and something I believe the community would really enjoy.

The City of Lethbridge, through the Lethbridge Sport Council, is currently in the bidding process to host the 2022 games. Hosting the games would draw thousands of competitors and spectators to the city and really provide a great opportunity to showcase southern Alberta. After seeing the LPS charity run and scouting a number of other event sites and locations, we are hopeful that Lethbridge will be selected as the host city in 2022.