Record participation in The Health Foundation鈥檚 annual Charity Road Race on August 16 in Yorkton resulted in $48,900 being raised to help purchase a CT scanner for the regional health centre in Yorkton.
There were 267 registered runners and walkers participating in the Charity Road Race.
鈥淭his was our best turnout ever, said Ross Fisher, executive director of The Health Foundation, 鈥淎nd it continues our trend of increasing the number of runners and walkers every year.鈥�
As is always the case in large-scale fundraising efforts, there was a number of standout, feel-good stories incorporated within the bigger picture, he said. A good example comes from Harvest Meats in Yorkton which generously offered to pay the registration fees for all employees and their family members who wanted to participate.
鈥淭here was a great turnout from Harvest Meats with 51 participants,鈥� said Fisher. 鈥淭his was a great idea, and we may ask a few more businesses next year if they would consider something like this.鈥�
In what Fisher described as 鈥渢he big story in the fundraising this year,鈥� the spotlight was on one particular couple (Murray and Adele Pask) who chose to run in the 铿� ve kilometre race in celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary. They asked family members and friends to celebrate with them through supporting pledges in the Charity Road Race.
鈥淭hey raised an amazing $18,540! They are the reason we raised the most money we have ever raised!鈥�
The Charity Road Race has several goals each year:
- To provide an opportunity for people to introduce a little fitness into their lives by putting on free running clinics from May to August;
- To hold a fun and well organized Charity Road Race that allows everyone from the beginning runner to the competitive runner to participate; and
- To raise funds for the purchase of medical equipment that will provide an improved or new service to the residents of this region.
The top five fundraisers were: Murray and Adele Pask, $18,540; Dennis Fuchs, $1,135; Tracy Newton, $1,080; Brad Surjik, $1,075; and, Carla Onslow with $1,005.
The race winners from first to third place in each category (followed by times recorded) were: Junior Two Kilometre:
Noah Wyatt, 10:18; Nicholas Laskowski, 14:06; and Elyse Johnson, 10:47; Women鈥檚 Five Kilometre: Hannah Walker, 21:22; Hillary Melhorn, 21:25; and Sarah Novakosky, 21:48; Women鈥檚 10 Kilo-metre: Brooke Mentanko, 39:19; Avery Westburg, 39:34; and Justine Zarowny, 46:24; Women鈥檚 Half Marathon: Brook Kemp, 1:44:45; Carrie Grant-Walker, 1:46:25; and Katharine Frazer, 1:47:38; Men鈥檚 Five Kilometre: Shawn McLean, 16:35; Daniel Baouya, 19:45; and Matthew Gnutel, 25:00; Men鈥檚 10 Kilometre: Gerry Nagy, 36:47; Michael Schwandt, 37:12; and Rahul Bhattacharyya, 37:32; Men鈥檚 Half Marathon: Stephan Smit, 1:23:22; Greg Walker, 1:31:38; and Rick Vaghan,1:33:03; and the 10 Kilometre Team Relay, Team Surjik, 54:51. The team members were: Tara Haugen, Han-nah Surjik, Jacob Surjik, and Brad Surjik.
