When Amber Sheasgreen was organizing the 2014 Crest Glory Days five and 10km runs, she never imagined the collection of Kitimat participants she'd receive on race day.
Twenty-three of the 129 runners came from the city to the East, including Laudo Furtado, the lone participant in the 40-49 age category for the 10km race. And it's not the first race he's completed.
"I've done the Skeena relay the last couple years," said Furtado.
"[Kitimat] has one, it's a 10k, it's more of a fundraiser for Jumpstart."
Furtado runs two to three times per week, similar to the Rupert Runners and he and his fellow race mates received warm and sunny weather for the Crest Glory Days.
"I started running three years ago, I noticed I was getting a little out of shape," he said. He's been running ever since.
That's how most of the participants found the Crest Hotel on Saturday. Whether they were there to run competitively or to stay active, Saturday's event went off without a hitch.
The race also served as graduation for the Rupert Runners' Learn to Run program participants, who had been training three times per week for the past 13 weeks in preparation for this day.
Complete with Mother's Day raffle prizes and awards for top finishers, the hotel hosted the crew in its B.C. conference room and gave out bananas, watermelon and peanut butter bagels to the runners after the race.
The big winners included Sheasgreen, who took first-place in the five km overall and 20-39 females with a time of 0:22:15 and David Magnusson who won the overall males' five km race and males' 40-49 category with 0:25:01.
Brooke Andreesen grabbed first-place for under-15 females with 0:23:36 and Emma McDonald took top spot in five km 15-19 females with a time of 0:28:09. Signi Solmundson won the women's 40-49 five km and Elin Scott claimed first-place in women's 50+ five km.
The male five km winners included Kobi Franes (under-15), Jeffrey Pederson (20-39), Magnusson and Balvinder Sing Nanan (50+).
The 10 km main event attracted the most runners, and people came from Terrace, Port Edward, Port Simpson, Kitimat and even a couple from Vancouver and St. John's, Newfoundland took part.
Winners from the 10km included Terrace's Catherine Lund (20-39 and overall with 0:45:51) and Prince Rupert's Marc Hrehirchek (20-39 and overall with 0:38:55). Avery Bailey claimed boys' 19-and-under, Karen Cruz and Furtado claimed the 40-49 categories, while Gail Bennett and Dale Robinson won the 50+ 10km categories.