The 5-Peaks Adventure Series has been around for some time across Canada, but this years marks its first foray into the Kootenays.
Kimberley was one of the locations for the 5-Peaks Kootenay races this year and they were held last Saturday, June 7 at the Lois Creek Trails.
The event was hosted by the Friends of Lois Creek, who provided all the volunteers required for the race.
There were 38 runners registered for the race, coming from Blairmore, Invermere, Kimberley, Airdrie, Calgary, Canmore, Coquitlam, Cranbrook, Fernie, New Denver, Rossland, Sorrell, Sparwood, Summerland and Windermere.
Kimberley City Councillor Darryl Oakley worked the race as a volunteer and said it was a great event.
“I thought it was extremely well done,” he said. “It was very professional. I heard from people who travelled from all over that they really enjoyed it. Nobody got lost, nobody got harassed by bears.”
Maggie Scallion of 5-Peaks has declared it an unqualified success.
“The support of Blake Rawson, Don Davies, Nina Andermatt, Daz DeBoer, the City of Kimberley and Tourism Kimberley was invaluable.
“We had a number of runners comment on how beautiful the course and trails were,” Scallion said. “Our winning couple even went so far to say that it was the most beautiful course they’d ever run, in the entire world.”
“From my perspective, the weekend could not have gone better… unless we’d had a few more runners. The weather was perfect. The organization went really smoothly. We had plenty of really awesome volunteers.”
5-Peaks will definitely be back,” Scallion said.
“I’m looking forward to keeping Kimberley as a staple of the Kootenay series and growing it in years to come.”