By Sheldon Spackman

Woody’s Marathon celebrating 20 years in Red Deer

May 17, 2018 | 4:30 PM

Hundreds of runners will converge on Red Deer’s scenic river valley trails this weekend for the 20th Annual Woody’s RV World Marathon.

The event kicks-off with participants picking up their race packages on Friday night at Ecole Camille J. Lerouge School with a Race Expo to follow on Saturday along with a 3K Friendship Run.

Sunday features the Full Marathon (42.2 kms) and Half Marathon (21.1 kms) starting at 8:00 a.m. The 10K race starts at 7:45 a.m. and 1K Kids Race goes at 10:30 a.m., all beginning at Camille.

Race Co-director Curtis Marquart says he’s excited to see the weather forecast looking good for the weekend.

“I know our registration has been going up every day here for the last several weeks now that the weather has turned better and the snow has melted,” adds Marquart. “I think it’s going to be above last year because last year we were competing with the rainstorm we had the year before and obviously with the way the running and race is marketed these days, there’s lots of competition.”

"Slow Roll"

Central Alberta RCMP advise of potential traffic disruptions during weekend

23m ago

Chad Krahn

2024 By-Election results declared official

27m ago

Two-Year Diploma

Red Deer Polytechnic creates accelerated Practical Nurse Diploma pathway for health care professionals

4h ago

He says it’s also nice to see the appeal of the race grow as it continues to draw registrations in from many different places.

“Obviously we have a very strong presence here in the Red Deer market but we see folks coming in from B.C., Saskatchewan, Ontario and we’ve even had some folks come up from the states here,” says Marquart. “We do see a nice cross-section of participants but basically it’s the Red Deer, central Alberta, Edmonton, Calgary markets where we see our biggest numbers from.”

Marquart points out that this year’s race is extra special as it celebrates 20 years for the event in our community.

“All the participants, all the volunteers, all our sponsors, it’s the culmination of a lot of hard work over a lot of years,” admits Marquart. “As a race, one thing we’re really proud of is that our run isn’t on city streets. Ninety five per cent takes place on our pathways and on our river. In terms of scenery, in terms of asthetics, you can’t get any better than this versus what you’ll see at other events.”

A nice steady stream of volunteers eager to help out recently is also encouraging says Marquart.

“However, it’s one of those things where we can never have too many,” adds Marquart. “Obviously we’re always looking for more, especially for race day so if there’s anybody out there who is interested in getting involved, we welcome them with open arms.”

To register, volunteer or find out more about the Woody’s RV World Marathon, visit reddeermarathon.ca.