Athletes of all levels can participate in the Rebuild Jasper Run on Nov. 30 to kick off the holiday season and support charities.
MultiSports Canada, which has hosted sporting events in Jasper since 2015, decided to rebrand its Pints and Pinot Run to bring awareness and support for the community following the summer wildfire.
“The Pints and Pinot Run was an end-of-season wrap-up race that we had done for a couple years in Jasper and partnered with the brewpub and other local businesses just to at the end-of-season draw people into the community,” said Trevor Soll, owner and race director at MultiSports Canada.
“And obviously with the wildfire situation, and not knowing what's happening, we just felt it wasn't the right brand, so to speak, to continue on with that aspect.”
The Rebuild Jasper Run will keep the same route up to Pyramid Lake and back to the townsite but will serve as a fundraiser for the Jasper Community Team Society and the Jasper Volunteer Fire Brigade.
The full run will be 16 kilometres, or a 10-miler, while there will be shorter runs of eight kilometres, five kilometres and one kilometre as well as a virtual run.
The Jasper Brewing Company had offered a complimentary beer or glass of wine for Pints and Pino post-event but is currently closed. Instead, the recently opened Maligne Range will be filling that role.
Soll said they were reaching out to other businesses in town for support and would be willing to help promote them.
Organizers are also reaching out to both charities to see if they can spare volunteers and will put out a general call to the community closer to the event.
“We don't need a lot of people, because it's relatively a closed course and straight up Pyramid Lake Road and back,” Soll said. “So, it's not a challenging course unlike the half-marathon route, where we need upwards of 100 volunteers scattered throughout the community. This one's pretty simple.”
He emphasized this was a “great cause and a great afternoon run” and reminded runners to come prepared in case it snows.
