THE organisers of Bathurst’s long-running Edgell Jog are ready to make an earlier start this year to try to avoid the event dominating people’s days.
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Committee member Jim Hallahan said the jog will kick off at 9.30am this year, rather than 10.30am.
“The presentations go for about an hour-and-a-half afterwards and you're running into people's lunchtimes,” he said. “We found people were being drawn out to win prizes and some of them had gone home.
“It [the presentation] might also clash with other sports.
“So we will get it [the jog] started early and get it finished early.”
The Edgell Jog, run for the first time in 1976, is a Bathurst institution, but has had a challenging couple of years.
Heavy rain in 2016 put a dampener on the event, though it still attracted more than 1000 participants, while last year’s jog was blessed with sunny weather but had around 800 participants.
Mr Hallahan said the committee aims to get at least 1000 participants for the jog each year, so the field “was down last year”.
He said the committee is hoping to encourage those who take part in the popular Bathurst Parkrun of a Saturday morning to be part of the Edgell Jog as well.
“We have been able to keep the entry fee at $30 for an adult and $50 for a family, making it the cheapest fun run around,” he said.
Those who enter online before 3pm on Friday, September 21, he said, go into the draw for the early bird prize of $300.
“The most important thing about the jog is it's a participation event,” he said.
“You don't have to be an athlete.”
The Edgell Jog will be held on Sunday, September 23.
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