4th Annual Betty Riel Triathlon Next Saturday

The Betty Riel Foundation, along with numerous community participants, volunteers and sponsors are primed to kick off the fourth annual Triathlon to chase cancer out of the Valley. On Saturday, August 25th cyclists, kayakers and runners will join in one or multiple legs of the spirited effort to raise funds to support those traveling for cancer treatment from the Haut Saint Laurent. Although 2017’s participation was slightly down from previous years, last year’s Triathlon managed to raise a record donation. Already this year’s show of support, with a team in place from Bank of Montreal, and many generous community sponsorships is off to a promising start. For the last four years the community has rallied around this event, where cyclists depart from Ormstown’s Chateauguay Valley Regional High to École Arthur Pigeon in Huntingdon. Kayakers then paddle back to Dewittville, from where runners return to CVR for a celebration and lunch. Former participant Tanya Thompson explained the spirit of the event when she said, “It’s not about winning or losing but about coming out and supporting the community. We also have so much fun!” Each year a wide age range of participants has joined in and everyone is there to help each other out. Thompson described a time when a more seasoned athlete saw a younger runner struggling and said, “I will stay beside you but you have to keep going.” The two crossed the finish line hand in hand. Once again, Marie Shewchuk will cater the event pro-bono with the help of generous contributions from Valens, Les Jardins De La Résistance, Super C and Huntingdon IGA. The free lunch will be catered with food that has cancer fighting properties. Once again, Lap of Luxury is providing T-shirts to participants (with a place to write who you are running for) and a school bus has been donated to transport participants to their leg of the race. Kayak Safari, who freely supplies kayaks for the event, is one of the huge community sponsors without whom the event could not function. Godmanchester Councilman Peter Bulow who handles the logistics, and also came up with the initial idea, explained why this event is so important to him, “We all have too many stories from our community and we want to chase cancer out of here.” As for where the idea for a triathlon fundraiser came from, he cites the desire to get people out on the river which we can now see the bottom of thanks to years of sewage treatment and clean up. “It’s a different view from the river and it’s worth appreciating,” he said. The only hiccup to 2018 so far is the inability to cross over the Dewittville Bridge for runners to enjoy the shade on the 138A. “It’s not ideal,” Bulow said. “But it won’t stop us.” The details: Registration is at 7 a.m with the bike departure 8 a.m. A team of three people is $300.00. One single event is $100.00. For those wanting to challenge themselves and do all three events, it’s $250.00. Everyone is welcome! Contact Betty at 450 264 3570 or Carolyn at 450 601 3735 for more information.