An event in the Municipality of Powassan that raises money for kids’ activities and the North Bay Regional Health Centre is back to being live.
The Sap Run takes place the morning of April 30 in front of 250 Clark, a day after the Maple Syrup Festival.
Created in 2018 by Jen and Jared Dupuis, the owner and trainer of Maple Hill Health and Fitness, the event has raised about $25,000 for the hospital and recreation activities for Powassan youngsters run by the municipality. The event gets its name from the rich maple syrup history in Powassan.
Jared Dupuis says more than 100 people have registered for the Sap Run to date and he believes he may end up with 250 to 300 people when event day arrives. Dupuis says the Sap Run saw about 200 participants take part during the inaugural year and that jumped to 270 in 2019.
“I expected we would easily cross over 300 participants in 2020 but then COVID shut us down,” Dupuis said.
But not to be sidelined, Dupuis turned the Sap Run into a virtual event the next three years. The virtual event attracted about 100 participants each year and Dupuis says they picked their own time and place to run and then submitted their time tied to a photo to the Maple Hill Health and Fitness Facebook page.
Given that this is the first year back as a live event, Dupuis says the public is eager to run again as one large group and this is why he believes the Sap Run will hit the 300 runner threshold and maybe exceed it.
The Sap Run consists of a 10 kilometre course and a five kilometre course for adults and a 500 metre sprint for children. Despite the name, Dupuis says participants don’t have to run. If they feel more comfortable walking, Dupuis says they can walk either distance.
However, Dupuis recognizes there are people who are serious runners who also record their run times. To make that process easier, Dupuis says for the first time the Sap Run will have chip timers for runners who track their individual times. Sportstats World receives the times which uploads the times to its website. Dupuis says Sportstats World tracks numerous races across the country and people build a profile of their times on the company website and can track their various times over the years.
People who want to take part in the Sap Run need to register online at Zone4.ca by April 28. Once on the site, type ‘Sap Run’ in the search bar which takes the individual to the Powassan event. Dupuis says the cost to register for the 10K run is $45, the 5K run has a $35 registration fee while the 500 metre run for children is $15. Each male and female first place winner in each of the three categories is awarded a medal.
The Sap Run gets underway at 9 a.m., Sunday, April 30.
Dupuis says the Carriage House Market will have food available prior to the race while Wasi Chefs will supply the food after the race. Sugarstone Farm in Trout Creek will also have maple syrup sampler products following the race in addition to supplying the prizes to the top finishers.
The money raised in the past has seen the town’s recreation department carry out renovations at the local beach in Powassan in addition to directing funds towards a youth basketball program. About 65 per cent of the funds stay in Powassan with the North Bay hospital receiving the remaining 35 percent. Dupuis says in the past the hospital has used its share of the Sap Run money for the Children’s Adolescent Mental Health Unit.
Rocco Frangione is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the North Bay Nugget. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
