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 now known as Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada. 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.
We are a Celebration of Strength, Sacrifice and Survival. All profits go towards Saffron Centre to provide proactive educational programs and workshops for children in our community schools.
We've been chosen as the 2024 ACU (Association of Canadian Ultramarathoners) 24 Hour National Championship for the third year in a row!!
Mike Melton from MCM Timing Ltd. is back again! Last year he squeezed us between an event in Florida and 6 Days In The Dome. He loved the event, our team and our running community so much, he's coming back with his air guitar dance moves to get athletes turned around on a regular basis.
We're Trail Sisters APPROVED!!
Welcome 2024 Athletes!
We have been chosen as the 2024 ACU 24 Hour National Championships!!
TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CANADIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP, YOU MUST BE A MEMBER OF THE ACU (Association of Canadian Ultramarathoners) AND A CANADIAN CITIZEN. (Please go to https://acu100k.com/en/events/race-director-dashboard/180-national-champs-hosting 2024 Application for further information). What does this mean? Athletes are able to compete in both the ACU 24 Hour NC and the Open 24 Hour event.
This will include categories for Non Binary, Men and Women. Athletes will be limited to 70 on the 4 inside lanes of the IAU Bronze certified 400 metre track (Loop A). We will continue to have equal podium spots and prizing for all three categories. 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. National Championship trophies can only be awarded to those athletes and event teams who are current Association of Canadian Ultramarathoners' members. We will also offer a $10 discount for ACU members for supporting our national governing body that "promotes, encourages, and develops increased awareness and participation in ultramarathons and to support the development of world-level performance at IAU World Championships".
We chose Ultra Sign Up because they make it simple for athletes to select Non-Binary as an option and they continue to work towards "addressing a deeper integration of rankings and site UI in Phase 3". 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.
We will be using Mike Melton from MCM Timing Ltd. If you don't know Mike, let us brag about him a bit as his humbleness would never allow himself to brag about his amazing ability. His is known all over North America for his ability to time these complicated events. Last April, he noted his van "now reads 77 000 miles driven in less than a year's time". Mike was on the frontlines at Big Dog's Backyard Individual World Championship where Harvey Lewis and Ihor Verys went over 107 hours. Last year Mike helped three women break five records as Catrin Jones broke the Canadian 6-Hour Women's record by running 78.5km and then breaking the 50 mile record with a time of 6:08:16, Kathia Rached broke her previous 12 hour record by running 168km and then continuing on to run 201.2km in 24 hours, and Carla Rodriguez DiMitrescu set a new Women's 6-Hour Mexican record with 66.268km. Three men, Michel Leblanc, Richard MacDonald and Tim Higham qualified for the Canadian 24 Hour National Team.
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 loops 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.
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 $21 000 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 105+ 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!! #survivorfest24 #survivorfestrunevent #survivorfest2024
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 9th.
Event's current local time: 6:19 PM MT