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 are proud to create an inclusive and fun environment for all levels.

Mike Melton from MCM Timing Ltd. is back again! This will be his third year. He squeezes us between an event in Florida and 6 Days In The Dome. He loves 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!!

We were the host the ACU (Association of Canadian Ultramarathoners) 24 Hour National Championship from 2022 - 2024. In 2024, we proudly awarded Canada's first 24 Hour Non Binary Champion, Simone Pfleger.

Welcome 2025 Athletes!

This year we want to continue to focus on our COMMUNITY!! Last year we were excited to add Fast Feet Fridays (for kids only!!) and our Friday Night Kids Races. We were delighted to award Canada's first 24 Hour Non Binary Champion, Simone Pleger on June 11, 2024.. Our Race Crew wants to continue this momentum. Our tagline from Day 1 has been a Celebration of Strength, Sacrifice and Survival. We strive to create inclusion and equality in our running community because to many of us this is our second and/or chosen family.

Since 2023, we have offered to 3 gender categories. We will continue to accept each athlete's declared gender at face value, and no additional supporting evidence is required. People whose gender is not male or female, including but limited to: genderqueer, agender, bigender. We want to acknowledge, respect, and provide opportunity in the registration process to express their desired pronouns. Please email rd@survivorfest24.com after registration and we will change our records as Ultrasignup does not currently have this option available.

We chose Ultra Sign Up as they allow athletes to select Non-Binary as an option. They appear to be continuing 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. They have stated to us "making the changes to the code and software has been challenging, fortunately Ultrasignup seems committed to inclusivity in our running community.

Choose Your Loop

Since 2024, both our A (400 metre track) and B (1.69 metre) Loops are certified BRONZE IAU LABELS race events. 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. Loop A Details: 400 metre track - IAU Track 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: IAU Road Bronze Label - approximately 1.69 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.

Over 18 hours of music will be provided for athletes, volunteers and spectators. . 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 $26 000 to Saffron Centre.
We have qualified numerous athletes for the National 24 Hour teams. In 2024, Carla Rodriguez Dimitrescu secured a Mexican National 12-hour record with 119.4 km.
Wayne Gaudet captured four records(pending ratification) 100k - 10:35:57, 12 - hour (111 km), 100 mile (17:44:XX) 24 - hour (202.892 km)
In 2023, Catrin Jones broke the Canadian 6 - hour record (78.571 km) and 50 mile (6:08:16), Carla Rodriguez-Dimitrescu broke the Mexican 6 - hour Women's record with 66.268km. Kathia Rached broke two Lebanese Women records: 200km (23:49:39) and 24 - hour with 201.58km.
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 #survivorfest2025

If you have any concerns, questions, and/or require additional information; please contact us via email at rd@survivorfest24.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 15th.

Event's current local time: 10:41 AM MT