NEWS FILE PHOTO
Participants start the Rattler Run April 26, 2015. The annual event celebrates its 40th anniversary with the run on Saturday, April 27, 2019.
srooney@medicinehatnews.com@MHNRooney
It’s a milestone year for Medicine Hat’s best-known running event.
The Rattler Run celebrates its 40th anniversary this Saturday when hundreds of participants line up for 3, 5 and 10 kilometre treks around the college and into Kin Coulee Park.
For any event to turn 40 is a big deal. Race director Tara Chisholm got in touch with run founders Don and Noreen Lyall, now living in Toronto, to get a sense of history ahead of this year’s race and discovered one fact in particular that surprised her.
“They came up with the term Rattlers before that was even a thing at the college,” said Chisholm. “That was really neat. The same idea, just a community event to get people out and active, we’ve done a fairly good job of sticking to that tradition.”
More than 600 people have already signed up for this year’s run, which sees online registration close this evening. It’s no problem to register Friday night or Saturday morning during race package pickup times, however. Go to rattlerrun.ca for more information.
“Usually we get a push at the end where people will wait to see (the weather),” said Chisholm. “We know we have lots of fair-weather runners, and that’s fine.”
Except that the weather forecast currently is anything but fair. After a couple weeks of mid-teens and no precipitation, Environment Canada sees snow coming this weekend – though as of Wednesday night that’s not supposed to show up until Sunday. Saturday’s high is supposed to be 12 C, which might be just perfect for running in.
“Last year by the time people were finishing it was getting close to 30 degrees,” said Chisholm. “It’s nice we don’t have to worry about that this year, in the sense that people overheat.”
Another positive aspect of the 40th annual run is safety. By using the Ajax Coulee Trail – which branches out of Kin Coulee Park – for the 10 km route, no major roadways need to be blocked off Saturday. The toughest part of the run might be the finish, going up college hill right before crossing the line. That could make for some interesting chases for first place among the more competitive runners in the field.
All in all, the fifth-year director is excited for the weekend, knowing she’s part of a great bit of Medicine Hat history. So too, of course, is anyone who’s ever participated.
“I think about it, 20 years down the road when I look back… It’ll be cool to look back and say I was part of that history,” said Chisholm. “People have been doing it for 15 years or 20 years. That’s pretty cool.”
