The “Tour de France of running” returns to the streets and trails of Woolwich this month, with the 13th annual installment of the Waterloo Running Series’ ENDURrun race.
Some 67 competitors have already signed up for the event, which spans eight days with seven stages for a total of 160-kilometres August 9-16.
“The intention was to have an event that would determine who was the best all-around runner,” said Conestogo resident Lloyd Schmidt, who launched the race in 2003 and continues to organize the event each year. “A person who is strictly a road race runner, would have difficulty on the trails, or a person who is strictly a trail runner, might not do as well on the roads. And somebody who is maybe a marathon runner could have trouble in the shorter distances, and vice versa with someone who is a short distance runner having trouble in the marathon. So what we’re trying to determine is how can we create an event to figure out who is the best all-around runner, and with the ENDURrun, we think we’ve found what that event is.”
Day one begins with a half marathon, with the start and finish line at the community park in Conestogo.
“It runs through RIM Park, along the golf course so it is very beautiful,” Schmidt said.
Day two is a time trial, starting at Schmidt’s Conestogo home.
“It’s very, very flat, and that’s what a time trial should be,” he said. “We send the runners off a minute at a time, with the gold jersey starting last (the winner of the first stage). So the gold jersey has an advantage of seeing the runners ahead of them, so if that gold jersey catches the person ahead of them, they’ve already gained a minute on them. And that is why the first stage is so important because it determines the order for the second stage.”
The time trial route goes north along Sawmill Road with runners taking a right onto New Jerusalem Road, followed by another right onto Scotch Line Road for a total of 15-kilometres.
Day three sees competitors head to Bechtel Park in Waterloo for a 30-kilometre trail run.
“That is very, very difficult,” Schmidt said. “And we have a number of different competitions within the ENDURrun, for example, we have two time trails, a 10-km and a 15-km and the winner of those two combined times, we award them the “sprint king.” We also have two very, very hilly courses, one at Camp Heidelberg which runs along Wilmot Line, and one at Chicopee, and so the winner of those two stages combined we call the “mountain king.” And we also have two trail courses, Bechtel Park and another at Chicopee and the winner of those two combined times will be the “trail king,” and they are awarded different jerseys at the end of the competition.”
Day four is the 10-km hill run near Heidelberg, while day five sees runners traverse a 26.5-km course at Chicopee Ski Club in Kitchener.
Day six is a 10-km time trial on the paved streets of Woolwich Township and finally on the last leg, competitors grind it out in a full marathon, once again starting and finishing in Conestogo.
Runners are free to sign up for the whole event, or just one of two as their schedule allows, and participants can also get involved as part of a relay team.
For more information, visit www.endurrun.com.