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Operun lacing up for another year

Sep 3, 2016 | 9:44 AM

Running to raise money for a historic building in Battleford is the goal of run coming up next month.

The second annual Operun goes through the streets and trails of Battleford at 9 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 2 to raise money to restore the Battleford Opera House, the top floor of the Town Hall building. The race will begin and end at the building and traverse past the historic buildings and fall scenery in the town.

Suzanne Reid, a member of the Historic Battleford Lions Club, said the run is fundraising for a piece of Battleford history.

“The Opera House was destroyed by a fire in 1965 and it’s a beautiful venue that can provide a lot of opportunity for our community in terms of tourism and hosting events. We’re really excited to be able to contribute to it,” she said.

The administrative offices on the main floor of the building were rebuilt but the Opera House on the top floor is still feeling the effects of the fire.

Reid said the inaugural Operun was a success, but the club is looking towards an even better run this year.

“It was a really cool day in October, so we’re hoping for much better weather,” she said. “We had about 85 participants and we’re hoping for a lot more people this year, we’ve had a lot of excitement about it coming up so I’m anticipating there will be lots more.”

This year’s run features a 5k and 10k walk and run as well as a half marathon, but Reid said there are some new events too.

“We’re going to have a half marathon relay event for a team of four and also a Young at Heart 2k for people who are 12 and under or 60 and over,” she said.

The Young at Heart 2k also features a four week training program of weekly bingo where kids can do activities to fill in squares for the chance to win prizes.

Interested runners can sign up through the Operun’s website, on Facebook or by email to the Historic Battleford Lions Club.

 

Matt Kelly is battlefordsNOW’s town municipal affairs and community reporter. He can be reached at mkelly@jpbg.ca or tweet him @mattjkelly2.