A little rain didn’t stop tens of thousands of runners, and walkers, from enjoying the 39th Vancouver Sun Run Sunday.
The timed race kicked off at 9 a.m. with more than 35,000 participants for one of the largest races in North America.
The run takes over much of downtown Vancouver, including the West End, Fairview and Kitsilano neighbourhoods, and drivers are warned of road closures which will last throughout the day.
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The Sun Run’s race director, Tom Hopkins, said this year’s event saw the largest increase in participants from a previous year ever — a jump of more than 15,000.
“(The Sun Run) is not just for the lead athletes,” he told Global News Sunday.
“It’s for the everyday recreational runner, walker, you name it. It started to get people active and it’s been Canada’s largest run since day one.”
The winners of this year’s Sun Run were John Gay, who took first overall with a time of 29:40, Leslie Sexton, who was the first woman to cross, with a time of 32:22 and Leo Sammarelli was the first wheelchair participant to finish with a time of 35:18.
There was also a “mini Sun Run” that had around 2,500 participants, mostly children, that started near B.C. Place.