The Albany Athletics Club is expecting another strong showing when runners tackle the 27th edition of the Elleker Running Festival on Sunday.
The club confirmed this week that more than 200 people had entered this year’s event with that number expected to grow in the coming days with late nominations.
The event is held in and around the small township of Elleker with participants able to compete in the 21.1km half marathon along with a 10km run, 10km walk, 2km dash and 1km dash.
Most runners will compete in the half marathon and 10km event while there’s a small group of youngsters registered for the 2km dash (10-16 years old) and 1km dash (6-9 years).
Perth runner James Smith won last year’s half marathon while Albany’s Kate Pritchett was the female division winner.
Race director Carl Heslop is expecting late entries to come from local runners with a strong list of competitors from Perth and across WA expected to take part.
“As usual people are coming from Perth, Busselton, Bremer Bay, Katanning and also the Great Southern and Upper Great Southern,” he said.
“For us it’s the major event that is put on every year and while there is an aspect of raising some money for the club it really is just about putting on a fantastic community event.
“It’s about runners being able to do a half marathon in town and it’s a really long-running event that has been supported by the community.
“The club is really passionate about finding ways to make it happen every year.
“This year there has been less external funding but we’ve had great sponsors step in to make it all viable, so that’s great.
“The secret to the Elleker Running Festival is keeping it very similar, it’s been running for 28 years and the only time we’ve missed it was with COVID.
“The goal is just a lot of community engagement and people just giving it a go, it’s a great first event for 10km and half marathon runners.”
The course is on flat, open country roads that wind past Kiangadarup (Lake Powell), potato farms, through tree-covered sections and over five different bridges.
Online registrations on the club website officially close at 5pm on Thursday but late registrations are accepted until Saturday at the Albany Athletics Club.
The half marathon starts at 8.30am on Sunday while the 10km walk begins at 8.35am.
The 1km and 2km dash begins at 8.40am and the 10km run starts at 9.05am.
Soup and snacks will be served to participants and volunteers on the day.