The Meaford Harbour 5K Run/Walk celebrated 30 years of support for our local hospital with its annual event held on Saturday, July 11.
This is an important event for this community as it results in significant financial support for our local hospital. Over the past 29 years, the event has raised more than $1.15 million that has been used to fund hospital equipment needs. In recent years the event has raised more than $100,000 each year, and so the goal this year was to raise another $100,000.
This event brings with it a positive energy, and it brings members of this community together, whether as volunteers or participants in the race itself, and all for a worthy cause. We are fortunate as a small, rural community to still have a hospital in our municipality, and that hospital is treasured by many who live here.
Before the race began on Saturday morning, a group of Georgian Bay Coyote runners were warming up on Denmark Street, their bright orange jerseys glowing in the morning sun. There were many smiles on the faces of the young runners as they stretched and jogged in place waiting for the race to begin.
In my brief time in the area of the race course, from the harbour area to downtown, I saw several volunteers that I knew well, and others I did not know at all. All were enthusiastic, and all were taking time away from their regular routine to assist with the big race on a Saturday morning. People in this community care, and they are willing to step up and help out when needed.
I had a nice chat about the upcoming municipal election with one of the volunteers stationed downtown, and I had another chat with a volunteer about the badly needed dredging of the inner harbour as we waited on the bridge for the race to begin.
Like many beloved local events, the Harbour Run/Walk is made possible by volunteers, our friends and neighbours, people who care about this community and the people who live here.
When I first moved to Meaford back in 2005, one of the things that struck me first about my new community was the large number and passion of volunteers. From the Scarecrow Invasion to the annual Rotary Fish Fry, to the farmers’ market and the annual Meaford International Film Festival, all of our most beloved events are brought to us by the hard work of volunteers. Did you enjoy the fabulous Canada Day Celebrations held in Bognor and Annan a few weeks ago? You can thank volunteers. Have you had the joy of sifting through books at the Net Shed? You can thank volunteers. Do you look forward to taking your kids or grandkids to the Santa Claus parade? You can thank volunteers.
Volunteers are crucial for any thriving community, and Meaford has always had an abundance of enthusiastic volunteers, and they truly make our community a better place to live.
Big events aren’t the only places we find volunteers of course. There are volunteers that help folks get to medical appointments, or who delivery meals to the elderly and shut-ins; there are volunteers at the hospital, and at local sporting events. Our libraries and schools regularly count on volunteers to make the fun stuff happen.
What would we do without the generosity of volunteers to give time and effort to untold numbers of events and initiatives?
The annual 5k Harbour Run/Walk is another shining example of volunteers making things happen, hosting an annual race to raise funds for our local hospital. The organizers and volunteers of such events simply cannot be thanked enough.
As I stood on the bridge in the minutes before the race began, the number of runners gathered at the starting line continued to grow. It is always an impressive sight when hundreds of runners gather at the start line before a race begins, and after the singing of the national anthem the race began. Standing on the bridge, you could hear and feel the hundreds of pairs of feet stomping on the pavement as the runners crossed the bridge before making the turn onto Bayfield Street to begin the 5 kilometre route. The participants were a mix of young and old, some pushed strollers and chatted with those around them, while others, serious about achieving a new personal best time, simply focused on the road ahead.
Spectators on both sides of the bridge cheered on the runners as they began their five kilometre run or walk, as many of the participants walk the route, smiling and waving to folks looking on.
This is an event of which this community is rightly proud, and I applaud the organizers and the whole team of volunteers, and also the participants of course, that make the event possible.
There has been no word yet on how much was raised, or the number of runners and walkers that participated this year. The goal was $100,000, and this event has achieved that goal in the past, and I am sure it will again this year.
