The third annual North Face Whistler Half Marathon this Saturday, June 1 is completely sold out with 1,100 spots snapped up for the half marathon, plus 500 more for the inaugural 10km run and 100 more for the Little Rippers Kids Run.
But while there's no opportunity to run the event, there are lots of good reasons to be a spectator this Saturday morning besides the obvious cheering on of friends and family members.
This year organizers have added a "Cheer for Gear" contest where people can register to cheer and earn votes from the athletes themselves to earn a prize package that includes a Bedrock 6 tent and four sleeping bags from North Face.
There's also a "Tweet, Share, Tag, Win" contest where you can take photos of the race — before, during and after — and post them online to Facebook or Twitter. In Facebook tag the photos using @whistlerhalfmarathon in your post, or in Twitter use @whistlerhalf and #WHM2013 to be recognized. All of the posted photos will be entered into the contest, with prizes that include a lifetime transferrable race registration, 50 per cent off registration for 2014, Starbucks coffee cards, subscriptions to Canadian Running Magazine, iTunes gift cards and more.
The course has been designed to minimize the disruption to traffic. The walker start is at 7 a.m., followed by the 10km road race at 7:30 a.m. and the main half marathon start at 7:50 a.m. Finish line entertainment gets underway at 8:15 a.m. and the Little Ripper Kids Run goes at 10:30 a.m. after the awards for the 10km and 21.1km distances.
There will be a few closures for the race:
• Highway 99 at Lorimer Road will be closed from 7:30 a.m. to 7:40 a.m. for the 10km run start and from 7:50 a.m. to 8:05 a.m. for the half marathon start.
• Lorimer Road will be closed to westbound traffic 7:30 a.m. to 8:20 a.m.
• Crabapple Drive and Beaver Lane will be closed to southbound traffic from 7:30 a.m. to 8:10 a.m.
There will be temporary delays from 7:30 a.m. to around 11:30 a.m. along the race route, including on Lorimer Road, Crabapple Drive, Blueberry Drive, Archibald Way, St. Anton Way, Fitzsimmons Road North and Sourth and Blackcomb Way West.
The best viewing spots for spectators other than the start/finish area at Whistler Olympic Plaza include Highway 99 and Lorimer, Blueberry Drive and Highway 99, in Whistler Village along the race route and on Fitzsimmons Road near the Valley Trail.
For more information on the race, visit www.whistlerhalfmarathon.com.
