Knox Steeplechase a Great Success

Saturday May 24th brought a beautiful day with warm temperatures and blue skies! While most people were just starting their day approximately 50 runners (and one dog) lined up on Northumberland Street and took part in the Knox United Church First Annual Steeplechase Run (the first spring run held in Ayr in many years)!

The race featured a 1K walk, a 1K kids run and a 5 K walk/run as well. Young and old came out and enjoyed the truly beautiful day. The town was covered in pylons marking the routes and a small section of Hall Street was closed for 1 hour to allow the runners/walkers to finish the race with a magnificent view of the very steeple they were running for.

When all was said and done, $ 2,300 was raised towards the Knox United Church Building Fund and a special presentation was made by Kathryn McGarry, President of Heritage Cambridge, for $ 3,000 towards the re-plastering work that is to commence this fall. Prizes were allocated to three different divisions for fundraising activities and they were handed out to: Jack and Madison Sunseth (winners of $ 100 in gift certificates to Bingeman's Waterpark and Funworx); Alex Schmidt (winner of the youth division) who took home a shiny new bike and the Jollliffe family (John, Diane, Matthew and Sarah) won the adult division by raising exactly $ 800 in pledges and took home a barbeque and cooler as a result! Thank you to all the donors!

Thank you to our sponsors: Ayr Farmers Mutual Insurance; Ayr Foodland; Ayr Physiotherapy; Greenfield Nursery; MacNeil and Dodd Pharmacy; Powerade; and Schooltees who helped make this event a great success!

The thank yous are endless: Absolute Massage, Riverbank Interiors and Powerade for donating door prizes to the event; the two Home Hardwares (Ayr and Williamsburg) for the donation of the barbeque; the 17 volunteers who served as race marshals for this race. the Township of North Dumfries for allowing us to close a small section of Hall Street that ensured the safety of runners; and, finally thank you to St. Brigid's and Ayr Public School for circulating our flyers and helping spread the word for this inaugural race.

Next year's race is set for May 23, 2009! Mark your calendars now and let's make next year's event even bigger!