Dr. Kim Gillies and Earl Cowan, Trail Director, DHBTC The Dufferin Hi-Land Bruce Trail Club’s 10th annual Summer Solstice Trail Run, held last Saturday at Mono Cliffs Provincial Park, raised $2,000 for trail maintenance.

More than 200 runners signed up for the event, which started at 7 p.m..

The annual Trail Run is designed to promote running and good health, encourage individuals to set goals and make the commitment to a more active lifestyle. It includes three events, 110k and 5k runs and a 3 k walk

The Summer Solstice Trail Run was started by race directors Kim and Karen Gillies, after they returned from the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington in 2000.

“We realized we wanted to share our love of trail running with our community. After all, running had given us so much – wonderful friendships, the strong sense of accomplishment that comes with completing training goals, and the spark for adventure that only narrow footpaths and forests of fantastic trees can bring – and we wanted to give something back.” The Bruce Trail is footpath 900 km. long that winds along the Niagara Escarpment from Niagara Falls to Tobermory on the Bruce Peninsula. It intended to give the public access to the natural wilderness areas along the Escarpment. The 60 km. section the trail in Dufferin developed and maintained by volunteers of the Dufferin Hi-Land Bruce Trail Club. Building a footpath through forests, by hand, is a labour-intensive operation, and in 2009 over 50 volunteers donated 200 days work, valued at $24,000 to the Dufferin trails.

In the last year they have:

• Built 3 km of new trails through untracked forests.

• Built six bridges over streams and ravines.

• Cut shoulder-high grass on 15 km of trails across wild meadows.

• Built 1,500 feet of carefully sloped trails designed to prevent erosion on the steep Mulmur Hills.

• Cut and cleared over 50 trees that fell across the trail.

The donation of the Summer Solstice Trail Run to the Volunteer Appreciation Program recognizes the contributions of all of our volunteers and the outstanding effort that they put into building and maintaining the trail, and is greatly appreciated.

This is the second time the Summer Solstice Trail Run has donated funds to the Bruce Trail.

They also made a donation in 2006.

The club always has openings for more volunteers. If you would like to join our Trail Builders, or our hiking groups, or social events, see www.dufferin brucetrailclub.org