| Vancouver Sun Run | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Date | Third or fourth Sunday in April |
| Location | Vancouver,British Columbia,Canada |
| Event type | Road |
| Distance | 10km |
| Primary sponsor | Ford Canada |
| Established | 1985 |
| Organizer | Run Vancouver Holdings ULC |
| Course records | Men: Joseph Kimani (KEN) 27:31Women: Isabella Ochichi (KEN) 30:58 |
| Official site | Vancouver Sun Run |
TheVancouver Sun Run, owned byRun Vancouver Holdings ULC and sponsored byThe Vancouver Sun newspaper, is a10-kilometreroad running event held inVancouver every year on the third (sometimes the fourth) Sunday in April since 1985. It is one of the largest road races in North America.
The first Vancouver Sun Run in 1985 started with approximately 3,700 participants,[1] and has grown significantly since:
The primary mandate of the Sun Run is to "promote health, fitness and community spirit and to support amateur athletics". In conjunction with the run a large number of 13-week clinics (including Nordic walking, walking, learn to run and run faster) are conducted at community centres throughout the province. The run is not a charity event; however, the organizers claim over $1.1 million in race proceeds have been donated to charities since 1985. It includes a relatively small number of competitive elite runners, a wheelchair race, and numerous other categories of participants ranging from running enthusiasts to parents walking with their children in strollers. The various categories start the race at different times, with the wheelchair and elite runners first, and slower runners following in numerous waves. For several years, individual runners have had their times recorded by an electronic chip attached to their shoes, which triggers a timer at the starting line and again at the finish.
The current route of the race begins on Georgia Street in downtown Vancouver, with the starting line just west of the intersection of Burrard Street, and ends outsideBC Place Stadium after guiding runners through the downtown peninsula and parts of theKitsilano and Fairview neighbourhoods south ofFalse Creek. The run organizing committee hires numerous entertainers to perform along the route and in the stadium at the end of the race, including local humour/cover bandThe Neurotics, who have played at the starting line every year since 1995.[6]
Hundreds of volunteers also assist with organizing, preparing for, and coordinating the race, including amateur radio operators involved in ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) programs from theLower Mainland.
In the aftermath ofthe bombings at the2013 Boston Marathon, Vancouver Sun Run race organizers have petitioned runners to wear blue and yellow, the officialBoston Marathon colours, in solidarity and remembrance of those killed and injured in Boston a week prior.[7]
Race organizers have noted a surge in race registration in the few days after the Boston Marathon explosions as the Sun Run anticipates one of the highest turnouts in its 29-year history.[8]
Since 1997, one dollar from each Sun Run registration has been contributed toRaise-a-Reader, a national literacy campaign. The campaign went national in 2001, and has since raised over $10 million.[11][12]
Sun Run proceeds also benefit B.C. amateur athletics through theAchilles International Track And Field Society andThe Vancouver Sun Jerome International Track Classic, an annual track and field event that gives local athletes the chance to compete against some of the world's best in their own province.
The race is held on the third or fourth Sunday of April each year.
