This year's Footstock placed a solid first in the eyes of the community.

For twenty year's Cochrane has hosted the popular family-friendly races which offer something for all ages and abilities.

While this year, a couple of long-standing races were discontinued, record numbers of participants were seen in others. Meredith McMorran, Race Director for Cochrane Footstock, says they had 133 runners take part in the 10km, 164 in the 5km, and close to 500 youth participate in the kids' triathlon. 

McMorran thought the Sunday, June 2nd event went swimmingly, and a story she heard this past weekend made the hard work of hosting all worth it. "There was a little girl who was about three and she was one of the final finishers for our race, and if I am not mistaken, sure was one of the girls who did her swim on the shoulders of one of the pool lifeguards. Then she kind of walked along with her Strider bike, but she did not give up. At one point, I have been told; when she was on the run course, she was running along when she noticed a dandelion that was about to lose its fluff and so she went off the course picked the dandelion and blew off all the dandelion seeds before she went off running."

Stories like this one are the exact reason McMorran, and many of the other race directors come back year after year. Hearing positive feedback about the day, McMorran was thrilled with how everything came together. "It was fantastic. In the lead up to race weekend, things always get a little bit frantic for all the board members, but when we see it all come together, it is just wonderful. The adult racers who might have been a little more driven in their participation gave us some great feedback, so we are very happy to have a whole range of runners who are happy with their participation."

This year the adults hit the start line first, and McMorran shares families were pleased with the change. "Most people preferred the format this year where the adults ran first, and the kids got to head out when it was warmer a little later in the day. It worked out well."

Another bonus this year was the addition of sponsors and vendors to the festival area, which added to the festivity and tied in the community component.

Giving thanks to Joel Wilkinson, Sandy Habijanac, Jenn Wilkinson, Kenton Wilkinson, Kat Cox, Don Miller, and Jamie Wilkinson, the other race directors; McMorran says hosting Footstock would not be possible without all the help. "I can't say enough about my partners in this endeavour; we just have an awesome group of people to work with. We also could not do this without all the volunteers."

While proceeds from the event are still being tallied, McMorran anticipates they will once again donate 7,000 to 9,000 dollars back into the local community. This fall, after taking the summer off, an announcement will be made as to which community organizations will benefit.