Now in its fifth year, the Rocky Mountain Soap Run attracted more than 2,000 participants to the Canmore Nordic Centre for two days of women’s empowerment, last weekend.
The all-female event challenged runners to compete in half marathon, 12 kilometre and 6 km walk/runs, and attracted all types of runners.
While 70 per cent of the participants were from Calgary, lending to a massive economic development spinoff, a small contingent of Bow Valley residents did participate.
Natalie Hull finished the half marathon in a time of 1:50:50.
“The atmosphere was awesome. It was the first all-women’s event I’ve tried and I was struck with how pumped everyone was. Everyone was cheering one another on,” Hull said.
Right before the final hill climb, the runners are asked to dedicate the next kilometre to someone.
“It was good because I was dreading that hill the whole race. I thought of my mom and my grandma and it was quite inspiring,” Hull said. “All around, it was a positive day. It wasn’t hyper-competitive, it was sunny and for a good cause.”
Lynn Borrowman and Katie Mee headed up the Ultimate Fit store’s 6 km and 12 km contingent, which included participants in their walk-to-run program. Borrowman has been running for 35 years and praised the event.
“It’s a great celebration of women’s running. These women have been training for six weeks and this is a nice, stressless event,” Borrowman said.
“This is definitely a supportive atmosphere. It’s a tough course, but everything is about helping women achieve their goals,” said Mee, who has taken part in every Soap run.
The annual event aims to raise funds and awareness about breast health, cancer prevention and environmental responsibility through collaboration with the Pink and Green Ribbon Health Program, under the umbrella of the Mary A. Tidlund Charitable Foundation. This year, the program will award two $1,000 scholarships to women who submit the best videos on the following topics: healthy breast education with a focus on prevention or the connection between environmental health and women’s health. The winners will be announced at the Women’s Run.
This year the event was able to use more trails at the Canmore Nordic Centre. Organizer Laurin Duncan said the event is great for the charity and a big economic driver for the community.
“A lot of people come and stay for the run. We’re happy to have raised about $10,000 this year and partner with the Pink and Green fundraiser,” Duncan said.
