Sarnia running fundraiser to include six-hour endurance event

A fundraiser in Sarnia for the Canadian Cancer Society this weekend will include a grueling six-hour endurance race.

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Sarnia’s Steve Clark has organized the Sarnia Sole Burner event for June 29 at the Suncor Foundation Nature Way on Model Road with five-km, 10-km, 25-km events, as well as a six-hour, all you can run, ultra event.

And it was more popular than he expected.

All 73 spots at the event are full for this year, but Clark is planning to hold it again in 2025 and is looking for sponsors for next year. Race information is available by email at [email protected].

“It has been very popular,” and nearly $2,200 will be raised for the cancer society, Clark said about the initial event.

“Next year, I’m actually going to bring a 12-hour to the area, too,” which will be “the first of its kind for the Sarnia area,” he said.

Next year’s running event is expected to raise funds for the Sarnia and District Humane Society, Clark said. He anticipates the event will select a charity to support each year it’s held.

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“I’ve been an ultra runner for a very long time,” he said. “I realized we just didn’t have anything in the local area.”

Ultra running events are for distances longer than traditional marathons.

“I’m really trying to highlight how beautiful an area we have here,” Clark said.

“It would be nice to have some more events and bring more people into town.”

Clark said his goal in the first year was to see if a Sarnia six-hour race could draw competitors and it has.

“I’ve got people coming from Ottawa, from Toronto,” he said. “It blew up very quickly. I wasn’t anticipating it to be like this.”

Registration for the event had to close because of limits on the size of the event allowed at the Suncor Foundation Nature Way. All races will take place on a trail loop at the site.

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Clark anticipates many of those taking part in the six-hour event will arrive with the goal of completing enough laps of the trail to total 50 km.

“The 50-k is the five-k of the ultra world,” he said.

Clark said there will be an aid station in the site’s parking lot for the six-hour run which is expected to have 15 entries.

Runners will be able to stop at the aid station for less than 10 minutes without being disqualified, he said.

The event begins at 9 am

Clark has been running for years and also was a snowboarder until he suffered an injury.

“If you talked to me 10 years ago, I would probably think this sounded insane,” he said about ultra running.

But Clark ran a few 50-km events and then went on to take part in even longer races, including multi-day events.

“It has really helped me navigate those difficult times in my life,” he said. “You can always go running, especially in Sarnia which is a beautiful area for it.”

Clark said finishing a six-hour race typically leaves a runner feeling euphoric.

“It’s going to test them,” he said. “They’re going to see the worst parts of themselves, and they’re going to be able to navigate through that.”

By the end, they may also realize, “they could probably push further,” Clark said.

[email protected]
@ObserverPaulM

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