Organizers of the Dinosaur Half are encouraging local runners who are interested in participating in this year’s event to register sooner rather than later as the number of racers will be capped.
One of the race organizers, Colin Kloot said the numbers are already, up over last year’s event. So far 73 have registered for the half marathon, 45 have registered for the 10K run and 26 for the 5K family walk and run.
“We see it is already an improvement,” said Kloot. “We are excited and we want to make it bigger and better.”
Participants are coming from all over Alberta, Saskatchewan and B.C. to participate, with a strong contingent from Calgary.
“We see there is not many Drumheller people registered,” said Kloot. “We want local people not to wait for the last minute because we are capping the races and we don’t want them to lose out. We want this for the benefit, not only of bringing tourists in but we want to better the lifestyle and health of the local population.”
He adds the newly designed t-shirts could be another incentive for registering early.
The annual event goes beyond just the health of the racers. The event has a goal to raise funds for the Badlands Community Facility. In the event’s short two-year history it has raised about $19,000 for the project. The Badlands Community Facility will continue to be the beneficiary of the event.
He said one way to encourage participation is what his office is doing. Herman Kloot and Company has challenged its staff to run in the event. Groups could also challenge other groups in taking on one of the runs.
The Dinosaur Half goes on Sunday, September 9 at the Royal Tyrrell Museum. Kloot adds that if there are businesses, health practitioners or organizations that are interested in setting up as an exhibitor at the event, they can contact Kloot at 403-823-4000.
More information can be found at www.dinosaurhalf.com