By Joe Pelletier
We, Skeena Valley Runners, ran into a problem in late 2019. Our 25-year-old racing time clock had died.
“It’s not just the runners who use the clock. It truly is a community clock,” says runner Brent Webb.
The clock has been used by many groups over the years, free of charge from Skeena Valley Runners.
High school athletic events, cyclists and the ski club have been the primary benefactors, but everyone from the dragon boaters to the motorcyclists have used it.
Replacing the clock was not cheap. The expected cost was going to be in excess of $3,000.
Our group then put out a call for fundraising and immediately received $750 in donations from local runners.
And then local contractor Andrew Contumelias from Technicon reached out to me, as president of the Skeena Valley Runners, on Facebook.
I had ran with him once in my life and he shows up at the annual King of the Mountain race each year.
Although I barely know him, he says Technicon will donate $2,500 to the cause — we were all wowed.
Wanting to have the new, state of the art time clock in time for the high school athletics season, we secured the clock in January.
READ MORE: Over 170 runners took part of the St. Patrick’s Day Run in Terrace
The clock will debut at the 3rd annual St. Patrick’s Day 5K race in Terrace on March 14.
The St. Patrick’s Day race is the biggest St. Patrick’s day party in the Northwest.
We’ve got green beers and costume contests and 170 awesome people participating, being healthy and enjoying the outdoors. Runners. Walkers.
And everyone loves the unique finisher medals.
The race, a fundraiser for Caledonia and Centennial Christian high school running teams, is on March 14 at Coast Mountain Community College at 10 a.m. Register at www.skeenarunners.com
Joe Pelletier is the new sports columnist for the Terrace Standard.