Jared Dupuis, the owner of Maple Hill Health and Fitness in Powassan, is back with his Maple Hill Sap Run. The annual event sees men and women run five kilometres or ten kilometres to raise money for youth recreation programs in Powassan.
The money the event generates is through the registration fee. Dupuis says the 5K run costs $35 to enter while it's $45 to enter the 10k run. There is also a 500 metre sprint for children which costs $15.
Dupuis says these registration amounts will remain in effect until April 14. After that date, each category increases by $5.
Race day is Sunday, April 28, with all the participants leaving 250 Clark at 9 a.m. This is the seventh year for the Sap Run.
As a health and fitness instructor, Dupuis pursues recreational activities to help keep people “healthy and in shape.”
“it was natural for me when I first started this in 2018, and it's a win-win for everyone because it also raises money for worthy causes,” he said.
Over the first six years, the Sap Run has raised $30,000.
While about two-thirds of the proceeds have gone to local youth recreation programs in Powassan, Dupuis says the remaining funds have been donated to the North Bay Regional Health Centre's Children's Adolescent Mental Health Unit.
Dupuis says the hospital will again receive money from this year's event, but this time it's being directed to the facility's Nuclear Medicine division.
As for the Powassan recreation portion, he says the municipality's t-ball and soccer programs will receive a share of the proceeds to offset costs.
When the Sap Run took place in 2023, it was the first time since Covid that it was back to a live event, and it raised $7,750. The Sap Run drew a decent crowd in 2018 – its inaugural year.
Then 275 people registered in 2019 giving Dupuis hope that he would hit 300 participants in 2020. However, COVID-19 arrived, and the live run was turned into a virtual event where people still registered but ran the required distances when and where they liked.
When the Sap Run came back as a live run in 2023, it hit 220 participants.
“So we lost our momentum to hit 300,” he said. “We're hoping for 250 to register this year, and we'll try again to build to 300.”
Dupuis credits the North Bay hospital for the Sap Run's ongoing success because each year it sends employees to the event to help him organize it.
He adds the hospital was very instrumental in helping launch the event in 2018. And in return, it benefits in part from the money that's raised.
Dupuis doesn't want potential participants to be misled by the name of the event. Although it's called the Sap Run, he says people can walk or do a leisurely jog.
But for the serious runners who like to record their times, the Sap Run is back with its chip timers which record and keep track of competitors' run times. These times are uploaded to the Sportstats World website.
The organization tracks numerous races across the country and helps people build a profile of their run times which they can refer to year after year.
Everyone at the Sap Run receives a participation award. In addition, the top male and top female runners in the 5K and 10K runs will win prizes provided by Sugarstone Farm-Maple Syrup in Trout Creek as well as the boy and girl who finish with the top times in the 500 metre run.
To change things up a little, Dupuis is adding an extra event to this year's run. It's a 5k relay race made up of elementary students from the area schools.
Each team will have five students from Grades four to six on the relay team, and each student will run one kilometre.
So far, Maple Ridge Public School has signed on, and Dupuis is now talking to the other schools about entering relay teams.
People who want to register for the upcoming Sap Ran can go to Zone4.ca and hit ‘Sap Run’ in the search bar.
The run takes place rain or shine.
Rocco Frangione is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter with The North Bay Nugget.LJI is funded by the Government of Canada.
