What is Survivorfest Running Event?
Survivorfest Running Event is hosted on Treaty Six Territory and the homeland of the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region Two and Four. It is a priviledge for us to provide an inclusive world class event on the land that carries the footsteps of Cree, Métis, and Blackfoot amongst many other Nations, who have been here for thousands of years.
Athletes and volunteers place their trust in us so we will be following general safety/COVID-19 protocols; at this time there are no restrictions for outdoor sporting events in Alberta.
Choose Your Loop
Loop A Details: 400 metre track - IAU Bronze Label. Limited number of athletes on 4 inside lanes of the Strathcona Athletic Park track for athletes looking to qualify for National teams and/or setting records.
Loop B Details: Track & Trail - approximately 1.7 kilometre loop with a variety of terrain including track, pavement, and concrete. The track portion takes place on the 3 outer lanes of the Strathcona Athletic Park track. This loop offers more variety solo and relay athletes.
Both are very flat and fast with minimal elevation. There will be a coordinated direction change for all events at 1PM, 5PM, 9PM, 1AM, 5AM. This means that the direction change will be at 4 hour intervals for the 12 Hour and 24 Hour athletes, and 3 hour intervals for the 6 Hour athletes.
An aid station located beside the track will be operational throughout the duration of the event with a number of different beverages (hot and cold). We will also provide both hot and cold food throughout the 24 hours for athletes.
SOUNDfonix Entertainment will provide over 18 hours of music for athletes, volunteers and spectators. DJ Aaron will also be located by the track to take any musical requests. As tradition, Final Countdown by Europe will be played at 8:55 am on Sunday morning.
Welcome 2023 Athletes!
We have been around since 2019 and every year we try to make it EVEN better! This is our FIRST YEAR WITH UltraSignUp!
Two big changes for 2023…
1) We are happy to announce we will be offering a nonbinary category with equal podium spots and prizing. Transgender and non-binary athletes are encouraged to participate! We will accept every transgender and non-binary runner's self-declared gender category at registration and no one may challenge an athlete's self-declaration.
Using Ultra Sign Up makes it simple for athletes to select Non-Binary as an option. If you have never created an account on Ultrasignup, you will have the opportunity to make this selection when registering. If you already have an Ultrasignup account and did not realize this update, please go into your account and make the change. According to the team at Ultrasignup, they are currently working on past results. For now, the results will still be demonstrated in only the male or female categories. Making the changes to the code and software has been challenging, fortunately Ultrasignup seems committed to inclusivity in our running community.
2) We will be using Mike Melton from MCM Timing Ltd. His is known all over North America for his ability to time these complicated events. The results from athletes all over the world speak for themselves. "For the first seven years of its existence, I worked the That Dam Hill 12/24-Hour races in Springbank Park in London, Ontario, Canada, so I've worked in your country before. I think either four or five years of that race, it was the Canadian National 24-Hour Championship race". "In 2018, I worked the European 24-Hour Championship race in Timisoara, Romania, and had the World 24-Hour Championships been held in 2021, I would have worked that race as well. I've timed lots of national and world record performances, including Zack Bitter's world-record 100-mile time of 11:19:13 (since broken by Sorokin) as well as his world-record 12-Hour distance. Most recently, I timed Viktoria Brown's 48-Hour, 72-Hour and 6-Day Canadian National performances, as well as Amanda Nelson's 12-Hour Canadian record and Camille Herron's world 40-44 age group 100-mile record (both of those came at Desert Solstice)."
Lastly, our 12 Hour event is back!!
Come out to our Celebration of Strength, Sacrifice and Survival to help educate our children and make our community stronger!
We are a LIVESTREAM Event
Friends, family and fans from near and far can watch the action from home on our LIVESTREAM!!
"If there is one thing that every runner has in common, it's that they love to talk about running."
Mike Bernas, Survivorfest Virtual Coordinator
We'll give regular updates on our athletes as Mike tells stories and interviews our Survivorfest Team, athletes, sponsors, volunteers, and more.
More Event Details
Survivorfest Running Event is an annual flat and fast 6 hour, 12 hour & 24 hour International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) timed running event held every 2nd weekend in June at the Strathcona Athletic Park, Sherwood Park, Alberta. All profits are donated to our local sexual assault centre, Saffron Centre to educate our children against sexual violence through age appropriate school programs.
Since 2019, we have donated over $15 000 to Saffron Centre. We have qualified numerous athletes for the National 24 Hour teams. In 2022, Amanda Nelson set two NEW Canadian records, the 12 Hour Women's Record = 134.025 km and 100 Mile Women's Record at 14:45:51.
Our motto is a Celebration of Strength, Sacrifice and Survival. This encompasses the feelings and experiences both athletes and sexual assault survivors share in their journey. It’s a mutual understanding participants recognize, whether they had been affected directly by sexual violence or not.
“Raising awareness for sexual violence affects us all,” as stated by race director, Laura Sherrer-Townsend and although it’s a sensitive subject to talk about and listen to, Survivorfest shows that people aren’t alone and there’s something we all can do to help.
Together the Survivorfest Team (with the experience of 100+ races) and volunteers support athletes to achieve goals beyond what they may have thought possible...and like Laura, they will have at least one new friend at the end of their race.
Most of all, have fun and enjoy the experience with your fellow racers and the Survivorfest team! FOLLOW & LIKE Survivorfest24 on Facebook & Instagram! Spread the word about this event!!
If you have any concerns, questions, and/or require additional information; please contact us via email at survivorfest24@gmail.com.
Athlete Swag
Each athlete receives a personalized event t-shirt. 24 Hour athletes will also receive a Hoodie. 24 Hour athletes will receive a GOLD medal, while 12 and 6 Hour athletes will receive a SILVER medal upon their finish.
Solo athletes who complete over 100 miles receive a highly sought after Survivorfest Belt Buckle personalized with their mileage.
Awards and podium prizing in 3 gender categories will be held at approximately 10:00 am on Sunday, June 11th.
Event's current local time: 5:48 AM MT
