The results from the Bike-A-Thon are in, and the Cochrane to Calgary trail is about $27,000 closer to being built.
The month-long fundraiser wrapped with hot dogs, snacks and give-aways at Cochrane Toyota July 3, where the fundraising total was announced and the winner of a friendly competition between Mayor Jeff Genung and Banff-Airdrie MP Blake Richards was revealed.
Despite a last-minute $100 pledge from an audience member and a self-made $101 donation to top it off, Genung, who showed up in a triathlon singlet, was unable to clinch the top spot with a total of $1,751.
Richards raised $2,082 to edge out the Mayor, but both competitors emphasized that the real winner of their friendly wager is the trail project.
“This has been a vision many of us have shared for a long time,” said Richards, who has been a vocal proponent of building a trail connecting Calgary to Lake Louise for many years. “We’ve been able to accomplish some parts of that.
“We’ve got Glenbow Ranch receiving federal funding and we were able to get funding to build the legacy trail from Banff to Canmore.”
The MP teased that an announcement of federal support for the Rotary-led project connecting Cochrane to Calgary isn’t far away. He highlighted the efforts being made in the community to the House of Commons last month.
Thanks to a $10,000 surplus donation from the Rotary International District 5360 conference that was held in Cochrane in May, the project is also receiving matching support from the province.
“By giving the money to the trail and having it support the planning, we now have access dollar for dollar from the province,” said district governor Martin Parnell. “So, we will get another $10,000 on top of this to go towards the trail.
“This is just the beginning, this is just the start,” he said to the crowd, giving a final plug to two young girls who were selling cookies at the event in support of the project.
From community members raising money through cookie sales, to community groups getting involved and pioneering families donating large sections of their land, it will take many hands to build the roughly $20 million trail, according to Trail Steering Committee member Dan Kroffat.
“This is and will always be a people’s project – it’s built for the people, by the people,” he said.
About $10,000 in prizes were given away by Garmin Canada and Big Hill Cycle as part of the wrap-up event July 3, including a $4,000 E-Bike.
Also throughout the month of June, Participaction held its national Community Better Challenge.
Sport 4 Life Cochrane vice-chair Ashley Fox said their partnership with the Bike-A-Thon helped Cochrane log enough minutes of physical activity to come 54th in Canada and seventh in Alberta, out of 220 participating communities competing for a top prize of $100,000 and the title of Canada’s most active community.
