Participants in this year’s Fernie half marathon will be able to judge their performance with more detailed run times.
The event will offer racers split times for each leg, as well as overall times.
“With the ability to offer racers more detailed run times the Fernie Half Marathon is becoming one of the best trail half marathons in Western Canada,” said Lori Bradish, race director.
“With the generous help of Teck this year we are able to offer racers split times as well as an overall time.”
Bradish said this means solo racers will have a time for each of the three sections of the race and that each member of a 3-person team will have an individual time for their leg of the race. Half marathons, which are 21 km in total, are split into three 7 km sections for timing purposes. The chip timing program is being supplied by Winning Time from Calgary, a supplier to timing at the 2010 Winter Olympics.
“This takes the race up to the level of those high-end runs in Calgary, Vancouver and Victoria. We are able to now offer a complicated timing program that runners look for. And we are still unique because our course is on Fernie’s wonderful trail system,” she said.
The run is always held the first weekend in October and registration for the event is still being accepted.
“Our t-shirt deadline was such that we can still accept registrants but we can’t supply them with this year’s edition of the t-shirt. Runners can still register online right up until September 30 and in person by 9 a.m. the morning of the race,” said Bradish. This year’s Fernie Half Marathon will be held Sunday, October 2 at 10 a.m. in the Fernie Annex Park.
Bradish said race weekend activities, Oct. 1 and 2, will also include a Runner’s Symposium and an FHM Townie Course Tour on Saturday afternoon.
“Registration Package pick up will be held at the Park Place Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. - we wanted to offer participants other activities so we’ve organized local health care and training specialists to present mini-sessions on topics related to running.” The symposium will continue throughout the afternoon with 30-minute presentations on topics such as nutrition, injury prevention and stretching.
In previous races many participants have come from out of town and aren’t familiar with the course so this year there is a course bike tour organized for late Saturday afternoon.
“We are encouraging anyone who is unfamiliar with the course and the transition locations to join us on their bikes Saturday at 4:30 p.m. for a short guided cycle. It won’t cover the whole course but the host will be able to describe exactly where the course goes and where team members can find the transition locations,” she said. To join the tour meet at the Park Place at 4:15 p.m.
To register or for more information on the Fernie Half Marathon go to www.ferniehalfmarathon.com <http://www.ferniehalfmarathon.com> <http://www.ferniehalfmarathon.com> .