PHOTO VIA FACEBOOK - Runners from all over Medicine Hat and beyond took part in a virtual Rattler Run on Saturday.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
Medicine Hat College made the most of a tough situation this weekend.Â
With the COVID-19 pandemic putting public gatherings on hold, MHC was forced to get creative for the 41st annual Ratter Run by moving the event to a virtual platform.Â
“We just wanted to, in some way, celebrate with our running community and all those that have taken part in the Rattler Run or wanted to,” said race coordinator Tara Chisholm. “We had to cancel the run a little bit more than a month before the actual date of April 25. Everything was kind of happening at that point, where schools were starting to close and everything with the start of this. We weren’t really sure what we could do or what was going to be happening, every day something new came out.”
Despite having to run separately, 529 participants signed up to take part in the 3, 5 or 10-kilometre run. In fact, this year featured runners from across North America, not just Southeastern Alberta.
“We were able to get people connecting who weren’t here. We even had somebody from North Carolina that took part. His mom ran in Medicine Hat and he ran in North Carolina,” she said. “They did the race together, but from a distance which was so neat. They kind of filled us in on that. Then we had people who either had been in the race before and were now in different parts of Canada, or just family members or friends who wanted to take part.”Â
Chisholm added TD Insurance still sponsored the run with a prize, and participants were encouraged to share their reasons for running via social media after taking part in the race. Even though the hundreds of runners were separated by sometimes hundreds of kilometres and no times were recorded, the spirit of the Rattler Run still managed to shine through in the comments.Â
“They really just said truly what they felt, why they decided to be part of the race. That was so neat because I think it gave space for other people once they started reading through the comments,” said Chisholm. “As the day went on, people that didn’t even know each other were commenting and liking each other’s reasons why, and encouraging one another. It was just really neat to see, because that’s what happens at the actual in-person Rattler Run, you have strangers at the finish line cheering on other strangers as they cross. To see that on an online platform was far beyond anything I was expecting. That was probably the highlight for me.”
