Elvis sightings are guaranteed at next Sunday’s Times Colonist 10K event.
He’ll be there at the start at 8 a.m., April 28, and will also be popping up along the way.
Filling the role of the rock legend will be Tom Turnbull, a teacher at Lambrick Park Secondary whose claim to fame is serenading students Elvis-style on their birthdays.
It’s all part of first-year race director Trish Fougner’s goal of creating a lively event.
“I can’t wait,” she said. “It’s kind of like a big party’s coming.”
“I’d say the motto is: ‘Come and have fun.’ ”
Fuelling the fun will be plenty of entertainment throughout the course. That includes the Taiko Drummers and Mufaro, playing the music of Zimbabwe and southern Africa.
Also adding to the atmosphere will be cheer stations led by Spinco at 1224 Richardson St. and Amica Somerset House at 540 Dallas Rd.
“Amica Somerset House has their cheer station again, so the seniors will be coming out doing a rock-and-roll theme,” Fougner said. “So that’s going to be a really neat spot.”
Registration is going well, she said, and the effort to increase participation from 2018’s 8,700 is yielding results.
“We’re still aiming for 10,000, for sure,” she said. “That’s our goal and we’re going to be pretty close to it. “We’re definitely higher than our numbers were in the last couple of years, so we’re excited about that.”
Fougner said she’s hoping for a run of good weather leading up to the big day, to gather more registrations in the final stretch.
As always, team entries are a big part of the event and will account for more than 50 per cent of the final tally of participants.
Fougner said there are about 210 official teams of 10 or more, along with many smaller group entries. “A lot of people put a team of five in or something.”
And many teams are bigger than last year, partly because of people deciding they want to join their friends to get the team experience, Fougner said.
She said the chance to be part of the 30th-anniversary race this year is also a draw for some.
“Maybe they were in the first few and maybe that motivated some of them to reregister and come on board.”
Family participation remains an important part of the event, Fougner said, including the Thrifty Foods Family Run and a KidZone that features a magician and three bouncy castles.
She said she is enjoying playing a role in the 10K.
“It’s working with a fun team of committee members,” Fougner said. “Some of these people have been on this committee for 20 years, so the wealth of information there is quite incredible.”
Register at tc10k.ca.
