Youth participation makes the Cookie Run something special
By Joe Du Vall, Run Ottawa
On November 1st, Run Ottawa and the Running Room presented the 15th annual ‘Cookie Run’, which was staged at the National Research Council complex on a sunny, breezy, Saturday morning – Results.
Two distinctive characteristics of the Cookie Run are the participation of a large number of elementary and high school students and the presence of Girl Guides and Pathfinder groups, who volunteer on course and are also the beneficiaries of the event’s net proceeds. In keeping with the Guides’ participation, boxes of those late fall ‘beauties’, chocolate-covered mint cookies, are given out to age category winners and also passed out to lucky runners after the finish.
All in all, almost 300 youth participated in the 5K and 10K events, with over half of the 5K field being represented by runners under the age of 19. Another 115 kids participated in the 1.5K fun run that closed out the morning. Contributing to the influx were grade schools and high schools from Gatineau, Ottawa and beyond, along with several youth hockey teams. It was also great to see members of the University of Ottawa and Carleton University track and cross country teams in the 5K and 10K.
Kudos to Race Director Glendon Pye, who has steered the ship with this event since its inception, along with a slew of long time regulars such as Ken Trischuk, Dave Morton, Bob Cumming, Jann Thulien and Dennis Ferris. A big thanks to our volunteers from the Guides and Pathfinders, and also to our race partner, Running Room’s Ottawa locations.
Saturday 5K Series Finale on December 6th
Run Ottawa’s monthly ‘Saturday 5K Run Series’ winds up for the year on December 6th. Once again, the venue is the Central Experimental Farm (on Maple Lane just north of the NCC Scenic Driveway), and like always, this event is free for everyone to participate. A big thank you to Sports 4 for being the presenting sponsor.
These events are designed to give runners the chance to run 5K over a measured route, at the intensity and pace of their choice. And we have attracted runners of all ages and abilities since we kicked things off in April this year.
If you have not yet given one of these events a try, this is your chance to enjoy a low key run that will not take up too much of your morning, and give you a great chance to snag a door prize. And did we mention it’s free for everyone?
Finally, as it is the last event of the Run Ottawa season, we will have some post race refreshments for all. See you there!