Red Roof Duathlon organizers put the scheduled Sunday event on hold this week.
Organizer Carol Currie says they made the tough decision to postpone the unique event due to a low number of registrants.
“We needed at least 30 to break even, and we didn’t have that. There was still a few more days to register but we had to make a decision . . . There were too many things we had to commit to by that day that were costly.”
The duathlon planned to highlight Trail’s iconic red-roofed covered stair system with the first leg a 7.7 kilometre run from Gyro through West Trail, with a lengthy portion consisting of the stairs, before cycling 30 kilometres to the Waneta border and back, topped off by a 4.6 km run along the scenic Columbia River to the finish at Gyro Park.
Because it was the first one of its kind held in Trail, the organization team did a good job marketing the event back in May, however, many competitors may have already committed to other events.
“We sent (information) to every triathlon club in B.C., Alberta, and a whole bunch down in Washington, so we did hit quite a few, but maybe a little too late in the season, people had already made their race plans, so we’ll get ahead of the game this time.”
While a definitive date has yet to be selected, Currie would like to see the race go in April or May as a Triathlon BC sanctioned event and a lead up to the Bare Bones duathlon in Penticton in May.
“We don’t want to interfere with that one (Penticton) . . . but ours could be a good training ground,” said Currie. “Where ours is unique is with the stairs and we picked some long ones.”
By postponing the race, organizers are hoping to get sanctioned as a Triathlon BC race, train officials, and benefit from increased advertising window and promoting it further afield.
“It goes on their (Triathlon BC) website with all the sanctioned races, which gives it some credibility as well as coverage provincially and interprovincially at the race, and we’re also looking at how to organize some corporate challenges.”
The race also garnered support from Columbia Basin Trust, Teck, and the LeRoi Foundation, with much of its proceeds to be donated to Sanctuary and the Trail Hospice Society.
“It was disappointing, but we just felt that we’ve had some really good support and we didn’t want to waste that funding, we wanted to make sure the race was doing some of the things we wanted it to do, and that involves having more people here.”