The Vancouver Sun Run, sponsored by The Vancouver Sun

The Vancouver Sun

The Vancouver Sun is a daily newspaper first published in the Canadian province of British Columbia on February 12, 1912. The paper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. It is published six days a week, Monday to Saturday...

 newspaper, is a 10-km race held in Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

, British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 each year on the third (sometimes the fourth) Sunday in April since 1985. It is one of the largest road races in North America.

Attendance growth

The first Vancouver Sun Run in 1985 started with approximately 3,700 participants, and has grown each year since:

• With over 39,000 finishers in 2006, it ranked as the 9th largest race in the world and the 3rd largest 10-km race, behind only the Peachtree Road Race
  Peachtree Road Race
  The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race 10K is a 10 kilometer road race held annually in Atlanta, Georgia on July 4, Independence Day. The Peachtree Road Race was until recently the world's largest 10 kilometer race , a title it has held since the late 1970s...
  
   in Atlanta
  Atlanta, Georgia
  Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
  
   and the Bolder Boulder
  Bolder Boulder
  The Bolder Boulder is an annual 10-kilometer road race in Boulder, Colorado. The origin of the name is unknown. The most recent race featured over 54,000 runners, walkers, and wheelchair racers, making it the largest race in the US in which all participants are timed and the fifth largest road race...
  
   in Boulder
  Boulder, Colorado
  Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
  
  .
• The 2006 event took place on April 23 and 50,746 participants registered for the 10-km Sun Run and the 2.5-km "mini Sun Run", which was run by 2,000 people, mostly children and their parents, with some school teams participating as well.
• On April 15, 2007, the Sun Run had a record amount of participants, with 54,317 people registered to participate in the 10-km and 2.5-km races, making it the largest road race in Canada and the second largest in North America
  North America
  North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
  
  .
• On April 20, 2008, the record was again broken, with 59,179 runners registered for the run making it the largest 10-kilometre race in the world. The temperature was a chilly 3°C (37.4°F).
• On April 17, 2011, the record was again broken, with 60,000 runners registered for the run making it the largest 10-kilometre race in the world.

Race details

The primary mandate of the Sun Run is to "promote health, fitness and community spirit and to support amateur athletics". In conjunction with the run a large number 13 week clinics (including nordic walking, walking, learn to run and run faster) are conducted at community centres throughout the province.The run is not a charity event; however, the organizers claim over $1.1 million in race proceeds have been donated to charities since 1985. It includes a relatively small number of competitive elite runners, a wheelchair race, and numerous other categories of participants ranging from running enthusiasts to parents walking with their children in strollers. The various categories start the race at different times, with the wheelchair and elite runners first, and slower runners following in numerous waves. For several years, individual runners have their time recorded by an electronic chip attached to their shoes, which triggers a timer at the starting line and again at the finish.

The current route of the race begins on Georgia Street in downtown Vancouver, with the starting line just west of the intersection of Burrard Street, and ends outside BC Place Stadium

BC Place Stadium

BC Place is a multi-purpose stadium located at the north side of False Creek, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the home field for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League and the Vancouver Whitecaps FC of Major League Soccer . Originally opened on June 19, 1983 as the...

 after guiding runners through the downtown peninsula and parts of the Kitsilano

Kitsilano

Kitsilano is an upmarket neighbourhood on the West Side of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.Known colloquially as "Kits", this neighborhood is home to many yuppies, young families and students as well as yoga studios, organic markets, cafes and Vancouver's Greektown. The primary...

 and Fairview neighbourhoods south of False Creek

False Creek

False Creek is a short inlet in the heart of Vancouver. It separates downtown from the rest of the city. It was named by George Henry Richards during his Hydrographic survey of 1856-63. Science World is located at its eastern end and the Burrard Street Bridge crosses its western end. False Creek is...

. The run organizing committee hires numerous entertainers to perform along the route and in the stadium at the end of the race, including local humour/cover band The Neurotics, who have played at the starting line every year since 1995 .

Hundreds of volunteers also assist with organizing, preparing for, and coordinating the race, including amateur radio operators involved in ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service

Amateur Radio Emergency Service

In the United States and Canada, the Amateur Radio Emergency Service is a corps of trained amateur radio operator volunteers organized to assist in public service and emergency communications...

) programs from the Lower Mainland

Lower Mainland

The Lower Mainland is a name commonly applied to the region surrounding and including Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. As of 2007, 2,524,113 people live in the region; sixteen of the province's thirty most populous municipalities are located there.While the term Lower Mainland has been...

.

Past winners

= Course record

Year	Male winner			Female winner
1985	Rob Lonergan		28:47	Susan Lee		32:39
1986	Graeme Fell Graeme Fell Graeme Vincent Fell is a former 3000 meters steeplechase runner. In 1982 he competed for England at the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia, winning a silver medal in the 3000m steeplechase behind Julius Korir of Kenya...		29:30	Debbie Bowker		33:31
1987	Graeme Fell Graeme Fell Graeme Vincent Fell is a former 3000 meters steeplechase runner. In 1982 he competed for England at the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia, winning a silver medal in the 3000m steeplechase behind Julius Korir of Kenya...		29:11	Lynn Williams		32:15
1988	Paul Williams		29:12	Lynn Williams		33:04
1989	Rex Wilson		28:44	Lynn Williams		32:19
1990	David Campbell		28:54	Debbie Bowker		33:06
1991	Philip Ellis		29:03	Patricia Puntous		33:48
1992	Paul Williams		29:03	Nancy Tinari		32:44
1993	Silvio Guerra Silvio Guerra Silvio Román Guerra Burbano is a well-regarded Ecuadorian athlete and olympic participant.A member of Concentración Deportiva de Pichincha he represented Ecuador at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States, the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia and the 2004 Summer Olympics in...		28:42	Leah Pells		32:48
1994	Daniel Komen Daniel Komen Daniel Kipngetich Komen is a Kenyan middle- and long-distance runner. Remembered for his rivalry with Haile Gebrselassie, Komen's most notable achievements came in a two-year period between 1996 and 1998, during which he broke a string of world records...		27:46	Daria Nauer Daria Nauer Daria Nauer is a retired Swiss long-distance runner, who won a bronze medal in 10,000 metres at the 1994 European Championships in Helsinki in a Swiss record time of 31:35.96 minutes.-Achievements:...		32:55
1995	Simon Chemoiywo		28:27	Olga Appell Olga Appell Olga Appell is a retired long-distance runner from Mexico, best known for winning the gold medal in the women's marathon at the 1991 Pan American Games in Havana, Cuba. She ran at the 1992 Summer Olympics the following year, but failed to finish the race...		32:57
1996	Joseph Kimani		27:31	Angela Chalmers Angela Chalmers Angela Chalmers is a retired Canadian track and field athlete who competed in the 1500 m and 3000 m....		31:05
1997	Tom Nyariki Tom Nyariki Tom Nyariki is a long-distance runner from Kenya. Most notably he won a bronze medal on the 5,000 metres at the 1997 World Championships.Nyariki is married to Jackline Maranga...		27:56	Sally Barsosio Sally Barsosio Sally Barsosio is a Kenyan distance runner. , Barsosio is the youngest ever medallist at the World Junior Championships in Athletics...		31:47
1998	Christian Weber		28:40	Krystina Pieczulis		32:55
1999	Simon Chemoiywo		28:52	Tina Connelly Tina Connelly Tina Connelly is a retired female track and field athlete from Canada, who competed in the long-distance events. She represented her native country at the 2000 Summer Olympics, finishing in 37th place in the women's 10.000 metres...		32:41
2000	James Koskei James Koskei James Koskei is a Kenyan runner.At the 1999 World Cross Country Championships he finished fifth in the short race, earning a place on the Kenyan team that won the team competition....		27:36	Sally Barsosio		32:24
2001	James Koskei		28:06	Sally Barsosio		33:04
2002	James Koskei		27:58	Sara Dillabough		33:17
2003	Paul Koech Paul Koech Paul Koech is a Kenyan distance and marathon runner. He participated at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 1998 and finished first place...		28:48	Aster Demissie		33:20
2004	Thomas Kiplitan		28:43	Émilie Mondor Émilie Mondor Émilie Mondor was a Canadian Olympic athlete, who was a two-time national champion in the women's 5,000 metres....		31:10
2005	Michael Power		29:26	Nicole Stevenson		32:30
2006	Gilbert Okari		28:27	Isabella Ochichi Isabella Ochichi Isabella Bosibori Ochichi from Kenya was the silver medal winner in the final of the women's 5,000 meter race at the 2004 Summer Olympics held in Athens, Greece. She finished in a time of 14:48.19, about 2.5 seconds behind the winner, Meseret Defar of Ethiopia.In 1997, aged 17, she competed in...		30:58
2007	Soloman Tsige		29:22	Teyba Erkesso Teyba Erkesso Teyba Erkesso Wako is an Ethiopian runner who specializes in road running as well as cross-country running....		32:05
2008	Festus Langat		29:26	Genet Gebregiorgis Genet Gebregiorgis Genet Gebregioris is an Ethiopian middle distance runner who competed in the late 1990s and early 2000s.She won a bronze medal in the 1500 metres at the 1995 All-Africa Games held in Harare...		33:35
2009	Willy Kimosop		29:04	Abebu Gelan		34:04
2010	Kip Kangogo		29:02	Malindi Elmore		33:06
2011	Eric Gillis		29:06	Lucy Njeri		33:41

Charity

Since 1997, one dollar from each Sun Run registration has been contributed to Raise-a-Reader, a national literacy campaign. The campaign went national in 2001, and has since raised over $10 million.

Sun Run proceeds also benefit B.C. amateur athletics through the Achilles International Track And Field Society and The Vancouver Sun Jerome International Track Classic, an annual track and field event that gives local athletes the chance to compete against some of the world’s best in their own province.

Race Dates

The race is held on the third Sunday of April each year.

• April 17, 2011 (27th)
• April 15, 2012 (28th)
• April 21, 2013 (29th)
• April 20, 2014 (30th)
• April 19, 2015 (31st)
• April 17, 2016 (32nd)

External links

• Sun Run Homepage