Fiddle50 ultra endurance race to taking place this weekend

Written By Paula Brown

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Long-distance runners will be tying up the laces on their running shoes this coming weekend as they gear up to take part in an ultra endurance race in Shelburne. 

“We wanted to bring this to the community because Shelburne doesn't have a running event and as part of Dufferin County, which is very active, there's a lot of runners here,” said Jodi McNeill, co-founder and race director of Gotta Run Racing. “We thought it was time to bring an event to Shelburne and when we measured out the loop at Fiddle Park and found it was exactly one kilometer it was a dream come true.” 

The inaugural ultra endurance run, known as Fiddle50, is scheduled to take place on Saturday (June 4) and will last between 10 to 12 hours. 

An ultra endurance run is any distance over a marathon, which is 42.2 kilometres. Fiddle50 will features multiple distance races including at 25 km, 50 km, 80 km, and 100 km with both single and relay teams racing. McNeill said they hope to include a 160 km race in future Fiddle50 events.  

“It's a challenge for sure and it's not just physical, especially when you're going to run in a one-kilometer loop, that becomes mental,” said McNeill.

The inaugural Fiddle50 will see around 30 runners participating in the ultra endurance race. The event has a number of activities planned during the race to entertain the runners as they make their way around the one-kilometre loop for up to 12 hours. Community members are encouraged to come out and cheer on the runners. 

“We invite people to come and see and cheer. Runners love to have their names called out, they love to be cheered on as they're running; having people there to cheers on runners is a big element,”
said McNeill. 

While only in it's first year of being held, McNeill said they are already discussing ways in which they can expand the event in the future such as having a walking option and creating the event into a festival weekend with musical acts featured. 

“We want the community to know that we're there for the long haul and that we really want to build this into an event that comes back year after year,” said McNeill.

Fiddle50 will take off on Saturday (June 4) at 7 a.m.