Miners Mayhem draws more than 500 participants

For 18-year-old Karly Marcotte, her first time participating in the Miner's Mayhem race on June 21 was just her way of testing it out.

She wasn't there to compete with the top runners. She was there to have fun and run with her friends.

“It was a challenge, and instead of running the entire time, it was fun to have all the obstacles along the course,” she said. “For future runs, I would like to do it more competitively.”

Climbing to the top of Adanac ski hill was the most challenging part of the course she said.

Marcotte was one of almost 550 people to participate in the third annual race. Miner's Mayhem race director Donna Smrek said there's room to accommodate a lot more competitors, but she's pleased with this year's turnout.

“It's awesome,” she said. “We had 200 people register on Monday, which makes for a bit of scramble at the end, but I'm happy with the numbers. We can accommodate a lot more on this hill, but we need people to register a lot soon, so we can take more time to organize the waves of runners. We can have anywhere from 800 to 1,000 people.”

What makes the event a big hit with runners of all levels is the fact there's no pressure to compete. While people do get an official time when they cross the finish line, it's more for the competitive runners.

“There's no time limit, which means you can walk it if you want,” she said. “If you get to an obstacle like the climbing wall, and you don't want to climb it, then you can do burpees beside the wall and continue on. Our goal is to have everybody finish.”

Funds raised at this year's Miner's Mayhem will support Minds in Motion, a project under the Alzheimer Society of Sudbury-Manitoulin designed to help patients with dementia spend more time with their caregiver.

The first Miner's Mayhem raised funds for Maison Vale Hospice. Last year, it was Big Brother Big Sisters that benefited. The idea is to have a different charitable organization benefit each year, Smrek said.

“We want to keep the funds for organizations where the money stays in the community.”