The sixth annual Collingwood Half Marathon, 10-kilometre and two-kilometre kids race will be jogging through town on Oct. 6, bringing together runners of all ages and skill sets.
While the proceeds from the event have gone to the Collingwood and General Marine Hospital Foundation in past years, this year race organizer Nick Brindisi decided to change things up by pledging the proceeds to My Friend’s House instead. A portion of each registration plus pledges will go to the local charity.
“I thought we could make a bigger impact on their bottom line than the hospital’s,” says Brindisi.
“I’m sort of biased because my wife is chair of the board at My Friend’s House,” he laughs.
Brindisi says that prior to starting up the marathon in Collingwood, he had raised $5,500 toward the foundation himself and wanted to continue that work through a bigger event.
“Six years ago we approached the town about it because, in theory, we could raise a lot more money than I did doing my solo stuff, so that was kind of the impetus,” he says.
The Collingwood Half Marathon is a partner race with the Toronto Marathon, seeing about 600 runners participate every year.
“We’re bringing a lot of runners from out of town to show off the main street,” he says, adding that about 85% of runners are from out of town.
“It’s an expensive proposition because it’s a sanctioned road race, we have our Athletics Ontario and Athletics Canada certification, which means that if someone sets a Canadian or provincial record here, it will stand because the course has been accredited,” he says.
The race runs down the Hurontario Street then out into the countryside with start and finish at Fisher Field. As the race starts at 8 a.m., Brindisi says it’s planned so the runners will be out of the busiest part of Collingwood before the stores open at 9 a.m., hopefully causing minimal traffic issues. The only full closure will be on Sixth Street at Tenth Line from 7:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m.
The course is calibrated and accredited with both Athletics Ontario and Athletics Canada.
The race requires the support of over 100 volunteer course marshals, bike patrollers, setup/teardown people and water station staff. Since it’s a charity event, up to four hours of time can be counted toward high school volunteer hours.
For more information on the race, to sign up or to donate, click here.
