For the fourth year running the Community Futures Drumheller Valley Dinosaur Half Marathon brought out  runners, walkers and well wishers for a Sunday morning of camaraderie, fun and accomplishment.

Runners and walkers explode out of the gate for the Dino-Half 5k walk and run.

    It was a year of firsts for the event. It has new routes, using the Badlands Community Facility for home base, and a new record as Justin Kurek of  Calgary crushed the course with a 1:15:47 at a pace of 3:37 minutes per kilometre. The avid runner competes in three or four events a season, and despite some local ties, this was his first time taking on the Dinosaur Half. He commended organizers for the hard work to put on the events.
    “It was so well organized, hats off to the organizers,” he said to The Mail following the race.
    Organizer Colin Kloot was happy with how the event turned out. While the numbers were down, it was like this for most events this year in the province.
    “We had about 500 entries, but in speaking with the Running Room, who do all the online registrations for us, and do it for most of the races in Alberta,  they have advised me that the floods affected everybody,’ said Kloot. “In Calgary, Okotoks and High River, all of these people’s running trails were wiped out, people’s houses have been wiped out, so their priorities have changed.”
    While registration was slow on the pick-up, as the event approached, the numbers seemed to ride a crest. They are hoping numbers will bounce back next year. 
    Feedback  for this year’s event was positive.

Dino-Half Marshall Bridget Unland had some enthusiastic help from Taylor, who is almost two, and Joshua , 4, on the course. Their cheers were much appreciated by runners as they passed through Midland last Sunday.

    ”I always make it a habit to walk around and ask participants of the 10k and half marathon what they thought of the routes and what we can do to change, and everyone was very complimentary,” said Kloot.
    Another success was Pasta Night the evening before. Double D Catering served up a pasta dinner for the community where participants could load up on energy for the impending race. About 80 came out to  fill up and  Kloot sees potential in growing this event. 
    As always, the proceeds from the annual event are dedicated to the Badlands Community Facility and organizers will soon be announcing how much they were able to raise. In the first three years of the event  they have donated $33,000 to the facility.

In the winner’s circle, Dino-half champ is congratulated. Pictured (l-r) are Brad  Delure, Rich Trentham and Nicole McAvany of Calgary, with Moe and Marg Trentham, Justin and Audrey Kurek and Dick Trentham.

    It was the toughest match of his career, but mixed martial artists Andrew Kloot, a native of Drumheller, came away with his fourth straight win on Friday night.
    Kloot remains undefeated, with a 4-0 record.

Andrew Kloot...
Remains undefeated after four MMA fights

    In previous fights, Kloot dominated his foes, barely exceeding two minutes of fight time in three matches.
    However, on Friday Kloot and opponent Liam “The Mac Truck” McGowan went for a full three rounds. In the end, Kloot was awarded the win in a split decision.
    “He didn’t want to stand and trade blows with me, so he tried to take me down. He spent the whole fight trying to wrestle me to the ground. Luckily I was trained a lot in take down defence, so I was able to avoid being taken down a lot. He kept me on the fence, but I managed to stay on top and work little shots from there,” said Kloot. “He’s a strong guy and was relentless in trying to take me down. He never gave up or let go of the legs.”
    Now that the fight is over, Kloot will take it easy and continue his training. So far, he
has no other fights scheduled.