The countdown is on to the 2024 RunSurreyRun, set for the morning of Sunday, Sept. 8 at Holland Park and surrounding streets of Surrey City Centre.
The 10K/5K walk/run will involve both in-person and virtual events three years after RunSurreyRun was launched as an online gathering in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The first one was virtual, and this will be a third race in-person, and the fourth we've done virtual too, from Sept. 4-8," explained Gurjinder Bhurji, founder and race director.
"Virtual is a good option for some people, because sometimes they can't come out, for one reason or another," she added. "I have a friend who's heading off to Greece and she's going to do the virtual run there, has the T-shirt and everything."
The community-minded RunSurreyRun welcomes walkers, joggers and avid runners to follow a 5K loop, which is doubled for 10K participants. The registration is currently $50, or $30 for the virtual event, on runsurrey.com. Online registration closes Sunday, Sept. 1, a week before the event.
The event is open to all running levels from novice walkers to elite runners and all levels of endurance, the website says. "It will be a green event and our mandate is to consider how the event can be environmentally friendly while fostering active living for the greater good of the people of Surrey and the many endeavours of its broad charitable community."
Last year's RunSurreyRun was a sunny-Sunday success with hundreds of people signed up.
"We doubled our number last year, and this year we're looking to double that again," Bhurji said. "So we're looking at almost 800 participants coming out this year. We are three-quarters full, and that's projected. We're now pushing, because most people don't sign up until closer to the date. We're expecting a full house, it's going to be full."
Bhurji said RunSurreyRun registration is close to a 50/50 mix of runners and walkers, to date.
"We now have the 5K route sanctioned, a proper 5K route for people who are racing for time, with bibs and chips," she explained. "That's an option, and we have competitive runners who race. We're looking forward to seeing them move to the next step. The people who walk, maybe next year they'll try to run. We just want to get people moving, that's been our goal all along, for people to be active. We're seeing that now."
The roots of RunSurreyRun date back to 2018 when Bhurji launched a survey to gauge public interest in launching a Surrey version of Vancouver’s Sun Run.
In planning for Run Surrey Run, Bhurji said she researched the high-profile Surrey International World Music Marathon, which was held in 2012 and 2013 before the event was cancelled in 2014. The 2013 edition of the marathon turned into a traffic nightmare for Whalley-area motorists and residents.
