The Airdrie Rotary Club’s annual Tour de Airdrie had another successful year on April 22.
According to Lori McRitchie, chair of the Tour de Airdrie, the event raised an estimated $30,000 in support of domestic violence outreach resources.
This year marked the seventh for the race, but 2012’s event featured a special component: the Andrea Conroy Memorial Run The race honoured Conroy’s memory. She was an Airdrie mother who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend Feb. 21.
Friends of Conroy approached the Tour de Airdrie committee about including a run to honour the young woman’s memory. Participants of the memorial run wore purple T-shirts that read ‘Silence Kills’ and raised $4,000, and donated $1,500 to the Tour de Airdrie’s total amount and $2,500 to the Airdrie & District Victim Assistance Society (ADVAS).
“It wasn’t a memorial as such, but a way to honour her,” said McRitchie. “We thought it would be a good way we could work together to honour her memory. (The Tour de Airdrie has) always been a race to raise funds for domestic violence, but this year, it had more impact because we had the runners with the purple shirts and they were running in memory of Andrea. It was so visual and such a good way of providing a tribute.”
McRitchie also said that the committee hopes to hold an annual memorial run as part of the Tour de Airdrie, and that volunteers were an essential part of the event and its growth.
“McKee Homes was our key sponsor, and we had an amazing group of volunteers,” she said. “We had many groups that came to give back, and without the community supports, it wouldn’t have been successful. The race is going to continue to grow as people become more aware and as we continue to do it for such a worthy cause.”
The race featured 320 participants, up from last year’s total of 260 runners, who ran in either a five-kilometre, 10-kilometre or 21-kilometre run. In the five-kilometre category, Paul Riek finished first with a time of 21:16. Machail Gosse finished second with a time of 22:00, and Bo Simpson placed third, crossing the finish line in 22:31. Darren Hayner was the top runner in the 10-kilometre race, finishing in 41:16. Bobbijo Waite came in second at 42:23 and Scott Lees finished third with a time of 44:34.
Patrick Hewitt finished in 1:28:37 to take first in the 21-kilometre race, with Antar Fuentes-Ortega following close behind at 1:29:34. Adam Harris rounded out the top three, finishing with a time of 1:33:44.
For more information, go to www.tourdeairdrie.com
