Fall Frolic Slated for October 11

For Immediate Release
October 6, 2008

Fall Frolic Slated for October 11

CHARLOTTETOWN, PEI -- The 9th Annual Provincial Forest Fall Frolic will be held on Saturday, October 11 at the Provincial Forest Demonstration Woodlot near Souris.

The run is a joint partnership between the PEI Roadrunners Club and the Provincial Forest section of the Department of the Environment, Energy & Forestry.

The run which takes place over the Thanksgiving weekend was first conceived in 1999 by Kim Bailey of the Roadrunners Club and Kevin Brothers, the Provincial Forest Technician for the Eastern District.

To hold such an event, it was first necessary to earn a slot on the Roadrunners' calendar of events and the run had to be challenging enough so that the runners could be awarded points by the Roadrunner club. It was also felt that since the event was to take place on a Provincial Forest Property it should be a family oriented event. To handle both ideals, two separate courses were laid out. The main course is 12.3 km long and takes the runner over the heritage road in New Harmony and then along a section of the Rails to Trails system. The runners then go back along the heritage road and enter the Provincial Forest Demonstration Woodlot for the sprint to the finish.

The shorter 4.6 km course was laid out for up and coming runners, joggers and walkers. To emphasis the family nature of this course, a number of parents come complete with baby strollers. The short course takes the runners south along Route 303 for 2 kilometres and then the runners enter the Demonstration Woodlot for the final half of the race.

Teething pains were obvious during the first year of start up since it was not possible to predict how many runners would leave the pavement courses for the rougher country lane roads and trails of Eastern Kings. That first year was attended by 51 runners and the numbers have grown each year since then. Now there is a hard core group of between 70 and 80 runners who attend the event. Their d edication to the run was clearly demonstrated in 2005 when after five years the weather finally took a turn for the worse. Surprisingly the wet conditions didn't put a damper on anyone's day and the Roadrunners proved how dedicated they were to their sport.

Over the past seven years, all of the money raised through entry fees has been donated to MacIntyre House, a non-profit group home located in Souris. MacIntyre House is a seven-bed facility housed in the former RCMP building.

This year the run will be held on October 11, with registration beginning at 9 a.m. and both runs will begin at 10 a.m. Entry fees are $9 for Roadrunner members and $10 for non-members. A barbeque will be held after the run. There will be a door prize draw thanks to the support of the many local sponsors in the area.

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Issued at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island by Island Information Service. For more information, please contact Ken Mayhew , Environment, Energy & Forestry by email at khmayhew@gov.pe.ca or phone (902) 368-6450.