Morice Mountain Nordic Ski Club has put together a run, walk, bike challenge for this year.
“Events are important to any community. They get people out exercising and preparing,” said a representative for the club.
Participants will be able to participate in this year’s run/walk/bike challenge through the Strava app on July 24 and July 25. Three run or walk options will be available, a family friendly walk/run of 3.25 km on a flat route, a 10.5 km run route which includes four sections of boardwalk or third is to complete two laps for the 21 km half marathon challenge.
Three biking options are also available, the family-friendly 3.25 km route, one lap of a 11.3 km route or complete three laps for the 34 km challenge.
All the course routes will take participants through and close to all the upgrades that have been done in the last few years.
Last year, the run challenge was postponed due to the COVID restrictions and while the club had hoped to do the usual run challenge later in the year, the event had to be moved to a virtual format. Interested participants were able to use the app Strava to put in routes and segments and compete with others. There are options for a 3 kilometre running event, a 10 kilometre running event and then there is the 22 kilometre route which has a 900 metres vertical climb, making it a very challenging route.
“A challenge is often very personal. Just finishing a tough event can be so rewarding. Some want to get faster and that is the challenge they seek; some people like racing and some don’t but everyone needs a challenge,” said the club.
The representative also said that the club didn’t run these events to raise money. “These events are a means to bring people in to the community; it allows us to celebrate the nature we are so lucky to have in our back yard.”
Having said that, the club will accept donations even though there will be no fee to participate in the event. All the routes and events will be posted through signs on the trail as well as will be available on the Strava app and a timing clock would also be available to write down route, start and finish times for those who don’t use the app.
The run/walk/bike challenge will also have several draw prizes.
The club has designed the event in such a way that people are familiarized with the area and they are hopeful that the event will eventually draw crowds in the future when having larger groups would be possible again.
