Vancouver Sun Run

Destination: Vancouver, B.C.

Founded : 1985 with 3,700 participants. Now averages 50,000.

Distance: 10K run and wheelchair event, and 2.5K Mini Sun Run

When: April 15, 2012

Website: www. sunrun.com

Since its inception in 1985, the Vancouver Sun Run 10K has become one of the world’s most popular road races. With almost 50,000 participating on a yearly basis, this spring tradition attracts runners of all levels for the scenic course through downtown streets and the city’s famous Stanley Park.

Some of the best road runners in the world are regulars for the race, with visiting Kenyans leading the pack for 13 out of the last 16 years. This year, however, 30-year-old Eric Gillis of Guelph, Ont., ended the Canadian drought, winning in 29:06.

There’s a colourful display of costumes and balloons in a festive atmosphere near the well-organized start line. Officials put up a rainbow of balloons – colour coded for the various corrals – at the staging area on Georgia Street. Blue balloons arched over the elite runners whose bib numbers are blue – followed by yellow, green, white, purple and red for the slower runners and walkers. Each chute has gates on different streets, keeping the shuffle and confusion away from the race course. With motorized entry into the downtown banned pre-dawn, it’s easy for the masses to find their way down Burrard, Hornby and Howe Streets. Visitors staying downtown can easily get to the start.

The elites start in the first wave, but the Vancouver Sun Run is really about 49,000 others on the start line. There’s a sense of community – even in a big city – that everbody is involved, or knows somebody who is.  With the stunning backdrop of Stanley Park, Burrard Inlet and Beach Avenue, it’s no wonder why the masses show up.

Nichola Dickson stood on the sidelines for the last few years, cheering on her husband, Craig. But this year was her turn and she left him with the two toddlers at home. “I wish the boys were standing alongside the road cheering me on,” she says, “but with so many runners in the race it would have been impossible. Besides, this way I was focussed on my race and my experience and loved the whole event. It was nice to get back out there and feel the excitement.”

The 2011 race also had a unique twist, as there was a fire at an apartment on Beach Avenue.       “By the time we passed the fire, the crowds had thinned out, making it easier for the firefighters to direct us all over to one side of the road,” Dickson says.        The firefighters quickly doused the apartment blaze without disrupting the race. “They were amazing, they had it totally under control and nobody panicked.”

The annual route heads towards the towering trees of Stanley Park, winding past the lagoon then loops back on Beach Avenue towards Burrard Street Bridge. “Crossing the bridges you get a sense of the whole event,” says Carla Mont, who was doing the race for the first time. “From there you can see the runners ahead and behind you. Then you see the water and the mountains.”

Aid stations and entertainment were plentiful throughout the race with crowds gathering at the hills and the last kilometre. By the time the runners cross the Cambie Bridge, the iconic B.C. Place comes into view, signifying the end is near.

If You Go:

When: Usually on the third Sunday of April. A perfect destination race because the rest of Canada is still under a blanket of snow.

Website: www.vancouversun.com/2011sunrun

Places to stay: Most hotels in the downtown core are within a kilometre of the start. Check hotels like the Metropolitan Vancouver, with running packages offered all year. The Runner’s High package offers running maps, a three-course carbo-loading dinner, post-race hot tub soak and late check out. And best of all – a complimentary copy of Canadian Running Magazine in every room. www.metropolitan.com/packages or call toll-free 1-800-667-2300.

Joanne Elves is a writer and runner based in Calgary.