How sweet it is…Kleefeld Honey Run grows

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/09/2019 (2428 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The second annual Kleefeld Honey Run, run through the streets of Kleefeld early Saturday morning, was up 35% in the number of entries compared to the inaugural Honey Run one year ago.

Last year, when race organizers Veronica English and Barry Penner floated the idea of having a community run, held in conjunction with the annual Kleefeld Honey Festival, they were hoping to have about 50 entries, but ended up with more than double that as there were 107 participants for the inaugural run.

This year there were 144 runners that lined up for the event, undaunted by the early 7:30 a.m. start.

And for the second year in a row, local runner Steffan Reimer, one of the top runners in the province, topped the field, traversing the same 5 km route in 16 minutes, 38.0 seconds, finishing more than three minutes ahead of runner-up Joel Neufeldt. It was almost the identical time that Reimer had last year as he won in 16:38.6.

In the other categories, Aura Diaz was the top female runner in a time of 21:29.0; Jonah Dueck won the male 17 & under category in a time of 20:43.4; and for the second year in a row, 12-year-old Caitlyn Hollywood won the female 17 & under category, finishing in a time of 21:31.3, which was 40 faster than her winning time of the previous year, as an 11-year-old.

English says with the run and the Honey Festival being held on the long weekend this year for the first time, they weren’t sure of what kind of response they would receive but were extremely pleased with both the number of runners and the number of volunteers and sponsors that came out to support the event.

She says that when they planned the first run last year, “our main goal was to create an active event for the community that is open to all ages and abilities with very affordable prices.”

English says they will be having the third annual Honey Run next year, which will also be the 50^th Annual Kleefeld Honey Festival.