Start of the Day – Both Events

Participants in both events will be walking at 7:45 a.m. from the Riverbend Community hall to the trail head at the top of Terwillegar Park. Prior to starting the event, a pre-race overview will be given to familiarize the participants with safety procedures in place for both events. See also: Race day agenda. 

Course Description/Information – 7.5km Walk

The walk will begin at the trail head at the end of Riddell Street, at the top of Terwillegar Park. Event participants will be escorted to the start location from the Riverbend Community Hall by race volunteers. 
At the trail head, walkers will descend into the park on a wide, smooth gravel trail that opens onto an open field.  At the bottom of the hill, the route will follow the park perimeter trail for about 4 km; the trail is wide, smooth and suitable for trail-style strollers.  
There is one aid station on the walk route at about the halfway point. After circling the park the walkers will return up the hill along the trail and through the residential streets to the Riverbend Community Hall for post-walk refreshments.  Race volunteers will escort walkers through the 7.5 km course. The walk is dog-friendly as Terwillegar Park is an off-leash area.

Course Description/Information – 10km Run

The run will begin at the trail head at the end of Riddell Street, at the top of Terwillegar Park. Event participants will be escorted to the start location from the Riverbend Community Hall by race volunteers. 

The trail immediately gets gnarly, narrow and cluttered with roots and rocks. Participants quickly descend to the bottom of the river valley, which opens to a large field. Over the next kilometer, the trail narrows and frequently intersects the park perimeter trail as runners dodge in and out of trees. To prepare participants for the grind ahead two aid stations are on the course, the first is at the 3.3km mark.  

After leaving the aid station, the run course features single track sections of trail, meandering around numerous ponds and punctuated with short, steep climbs.  This part of the trail is littered with roots and rocks that will challenge runners.  Much of this section is completely sheltered by low-hanging tree coverage along the way.  The second aid station is at the 6.3 km mark, it will be a welcome sight to participants after a tough sustained climb out of the river valley.  After a short out and back, a long smooth trail descent will eventually cross the park entrance road. My Dad, Wayne is the volunteer crossing guard,  please say hello! The trail finishes with a steady climb out of the park to the start/finish and a short walk back to the Riverbend Community Hall for post-run refreshments.

Participant Safety

Race day first aid support will be available.  There will be first aid representatives at the start/finish of the run and in the main parking lot in Terwillegar Park.

The event day first aid response will be supported by race volunteer cyclists who are familiar with the course route. They will have radio contact with the first aid responders and will be able to guide them to the participant in need of aid.  There will also be race volunteer “sweeps” assigned to the course whose role will be to ensure no runners are injured and unable to get support immediately. They will also have radio contact to professional first aid resources.

Course Identification

The course will be marked using three different methods:

• For the run course, fluorescent pink survey tape will be tied to tree branches approximately every 100 meters on the trail. The trail markings will always be off your right shoulder, and you should never be out of site of a pink ribbon.

• For the walk route, fluorescent orange survey tape will be tied to tree branches approximately every 100 meter on the route. The trail markings will always be off your right shoulder, and you should never out of site of an orange ribbon.

• Kilometer markers will be placed every 0.5 km along the course trail for both the run and walk courses.

• Major intersections on both the run and the walk will be marked with larger directional markers indicating the direction to proceed, and additional pink or orange fluorescent tape will be used at the change in direction points to clearly indicate the direction.

Participant Aid Stations

There will be two aid stations on the course: the first one will support both the run and walk participants, the second will support the run. The aid station will be manned by two volunteers at each station, and refreshments and trash containers will be available to runners.

Aid station #1 – At 3.3 km on the run course and walking route, along the perimeter road on the north side of the park.  

Aid Station #2 – At the 6.5 km mark on the run course at the Heffernan Drive trail head.

Have a wonderful time in the park! Thank-you for participating and making this event a tremendous success!

Have a wonderful time in the park! Thank-you for participating and making this event a tremendous success!