Pick Up the Pace 2021 Report

From September 25 to October 4, Up and Running Guelph held its second annual Pick Up the Pace Virtual Race for Mental Health. The event was a tremendous success with 95 participants raising $15,760 in support of the continued success of Up and Running Guelph’s programs.

Woman running on paved road (Stock imagery)

Pick Up the Pace 2021 was made possible by our amazing local sponsors including SV Law, Cargill, RLB, 4x4 Auto Sales, The Co-operators, Vitality Chiropractic, Frank’s Custom Auto Repair, TD Bank and Ositech Communications.

As an organization, we are both humbled and overjoyed by the support we received from members of our community. Despite Pick Up the Pace never having been a live event, we continue to see enthusiastic participation both in the Guelph-area and across Southern Ontario as well as participants from other provinces and, occasionally, other countries!

Although we wish we could have seen all our participants tow the line together, we loved following everyone’s adventures on social media. Many teams arranged to “race” together and we have heard so many great stories of participants challenging themselves or exploring new trails and neighbourhoods. In total, 15 teams took on distances from 5k to half-marathons!

Proceeds from this year’s event will directly benefit women and their families in the Guelph-area by enhancing and expanding our program offerings, and making them more accessible to those most needing to improve their mental health.

We cannot thank our community enough and are already looking forward to seeing everyone at Pick Up the Pace 2022!