Registration for Times Colonist 10K opens amid renewed running boom 2025 race set for April 27 Cleve Dheensaw Nov 6, 2024 10:20 PM Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message Runners come to the finish line during the 35th running of the TC 10K last April. (ADRIAN LAM, TIMES COLONIST) Listen to this article 00:03:30 Ever since the late Jim Fixx’s 1977 bestseller, The Complete Book of Running first popularized what was then referred to as jogging, annual mass-participation running events have been a mainstay staple on city streets. But interest in traditional road racing waxes and wanes depending on what off-road events or other forms of physical activity are in vogue at the time.
Running, however, has rebounded in a big way and organizers are expecting to crack the 10,000-participation level for the 36th Times Colonist 10K on April 27, up from the 8,600 this year. That follows the 12,367 who ran the Royal Victoria Marathon races last month, the third-highest total in the 44-year history of the event. The Royal Victoria Marathon in the fall and Times Colonist 10K in the spring are the two big bookends of the Island racing calendar.
More than 9,600 participated in the last pre-pandemic Times Colonist 10K in 2019. “We have seen 10 per cent growth each year since the pandemic,” said race general manager Mark deFrias. “It shows that no matter what’s happening in the world, people want to enjoy community and movement.
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