Race Against Time 2026

We are really excited to be offering this event, which we will only be organizing in alternate years! We hosted it in 2024 and it was a blast!It will be fun to participate in and equally fun to watch. This is a "last person standing" style event with a twist. This is our last event of the year- one last chance to get together and celebrate another year of putting one foot in front of the other.This is a perfect race for our road running friends to get a glimpse of the trail running world. Although this isn't much of a "trail", I think we can agree that a big part of what makes our trail community so special is the people. This event will only be offered in alternating years (opposite years to our "Leftovers Run" event). Like the Leftovers Run, this event is designed to be a grassroots, small, community-focused event. THIS YEAR, THE RACE WILL BE FREE (sort of...). We are asking every participant to bring a $20 cash donation and to choose one of the charities that we work with (SickKids, Melanoma Canada, Hamilton Conservation Authority, Hamilton Out-of-the-Cold). You will get to put it in the donation jar of your choosing at race-kit pick-up. You will receive a bib, a race buff, and (as long as you complete at least 1 loop) a really cool finisher's medal. Not bad for a "free" race.RACE FORMAT:As mentioned, this is a "last person standing" style event, which means that we will have 1 winner in each of the man/woman/non-binary categories. The race will take place on a 1 mile (1.61km) paved loop at Bayfront Park in Hamilton, ON. All participants will start the first loop at 9:00am and will be given 15 minutes to complete the first loop. Take your time and conserve your energy on these early loops because it is going to get a lot more challenging! Regardless of how quickly you finish the lap, YOU CAN'T START THE NEXT LAP UNTIL THE OFFICIAL STARTING TIME OF THE NEXT LAP (see schedule below).At 9:15am, all participants who successfully completed the first loop will start their second loop. However, this time you will be given 14 minutes to complete the loop. Each subsequent loop will need to be completed a little bit faster than the last. We will start by reducing the lap time by 1 minute each lap. After 6 laps, we will start reducing the lap time by 30 seconds. After 12 laps, we will start reducing the lap time by 15 seconds until there is only 1 runner remaining. If no runners are able to complete the last lap in the allotted time, the first runner to complete the lap will be declared the winner!COURSE MAP:The 1.61km (1 mile) loop will take place only steps from the parking lot at Bayfront Park in Hamilton. The loop is wide, paved, and mostly flat. AID STATION:We will have a bare-bones aid station with water and Skratch Labs Electrolyte Drink.For all of the road runners out there, you should be aware that like most trail races, all Happy Trails Racing events (including this one) are cup-less. You need to bring your own cup or bottle. This doesn't have to be fancy- you can literally write your name on a piece of tape, put it on plastic cup, and leave it on the aid station table. No glass cups please!You will have access to a drop bag every mile so bring whatever you need. Don't forget to bring some warm clothes to change into so that you can watch the rest of the race in comfort! Your new Happy Trails Toque will come in handy. Feel free to bring a chair.