It is difficult to DJ wearing gloves!  I was reminded of that fact on Saturday morning as a mixture of rain and snow cascaded down on the runners in front of me as they powered up Tunnel Mountain Drive for the 5K leg of Melissa’s Road Race.  The tunes I was spinning alongside the cheering, enthusiastic ladies at the lululemon water station were hopefully fueling and warming the runners during one of the coldest Melissa’s events in recent memory.  But runner after runner kept coming; the vast majority of the 4500 athletes who registered for the sold out event chose to attend despite the weather.  I think they were just happy to be a part of an event many people thought would never happen again.

In 2017, after the 38th consecutive year of Melissa’s Road Race, organizers announced the run was done.  Citing red tape and regulatory issues from the Town of Banff and Parks Canada, it was declared “Mission Accomplished” for an event that was originally created to boost tourism during a what was at the time, but not anymore, a slower season for business in town.  The fact that the 4500 registrant cap was grandfathered through rule changes in the ensuing years meant we would never see a race like it in Banff ever again.

Or would we?  Thanks to an assist from the fine folks at the Banff Marathon, Melissa’s was brought back from the brink of extinction to run again!  I really feel the reason people go to such lengths to save these legacy events has to do with heritage and community.  In the Bow Valley we’ve seen our little towns grow and change so much over the past few decades and often feel powerless to stop it.  But we do have the power to make sure these long-running events that link us to our past continue to survive and thrive.  Similar to what happened when the Canmore Highland Games announced they were finished in 2016, there were people in our community who wouldn’t stand for Melissa’s to be done and had the wherewithal to step forward and keep it, and that sense of community and history, alive.

I ended up ditching the gloves and dealing with frozen fingers, a small sacrifice to make for the mix.  Just like the runners, I was happy to be back to play my part in an event I thought would never happen again.

Filed under: Banff, Melissa's Road Race