| First Annual Fallen Four Relay/Marathon |
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The Whitecourt RCMP, Town of Whitecourt, Alberta, and the Mayerthorpe Fallen Four Memorial Society will host the First Annual Fallen Four Relay/Marathon on June 20 and 21, 2009. The Whitecourt RCMP, in collaboration with the Town of Whitecourt, Alberta, has hosted eleven five-kilometre Fun Run/Walk annual events with much success. The events have continually increased awareness about community policing and helped familiarize Whitecourt citizens with members of the local detachment. The 2009 Fun Run/Walk will be expanded to a full weekend for families and competitors, with the addition of a kids’ marathon, a four-person relay, and a full marathon. This will be done through cooperation of the RCMP, Town of Whitecourt, and the Fallen Four Memorial Society. The four-person relay and the marathon will both commence at the Fallen Four Memorial Park in Mayerthorpe, Alberta, and end at the Allan & Jean Millar Centre in Whitecourt. The distance between the two communities is exactly forty-two kilometres, the distance of a marathon. The communities of Mayerthorpe and Whitecourt were devastated by the deaths of four young RCMP constables, March 3, 2005. In May of 2005 the Mayerthorpe Fallen Four Memorial Society was formed. The goal was to create a monument to honour the four young RCMP officers and acknowledge the risks that all police and peace officers take every day to ensure the safety of our communities and citizens. The Mayerthorpe Fallen Four Memorial Park officially opened July 4, 2008, with the unveiling of four life-size bronze statues and a centre obelisk to all peace and police officers. For further info on the relay/marathon, see www.runningroom.ca. |
