Saskatchewan’s oldest road race celebrates 100 years in Fort Qu’Appelle

The Fort Qu’Appelle Lions Echo Lake Road Race was held on Sunday, May 18, 2025. (Sierra D'Souza Butts/CTV News)

Rick Minett is one of many runners in Fort Qu’Appelle who has been active in the community for decades.

“I’ve been doing this for 30 years. I came out from Toronto in 1992 and started running out here, and I live out here now,” he said. “This is a great place to live, a great place to run. I’m always happy to come out and do it whatever the weather is, doesn’t matter.”

Now calling the small-town home, Minett participates in a traditional road race that’s been going strong for 100 years – The Fort Qu’Appelle Lions Echo Lake Road Race.

“I got to come out here, support the valley [and] support the town,” he explained. “Running is a great activity for fitness. I’m getting older so I got to keep working at it. I just turned 70 this year and I’m still at it.”

“I’m not going to stop,” he added.

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The Fort Qu’Appelle mainstay is one of the oldest in Saskatchewan – the race was established in 1925 by a few community members.

“The race is also named after Hummer Bartlett. He was one of the original organizers of the race and we’ve now renamed it the Hummer Bartlett Echo Road Race,” Fort Qu’Appelle Lions Club member Larry Bedel explained.

“It was him and a couple other folks that said, ‘this is important, we need to get it going,’ again and it’s become tradition.”

Although the event was going strong, it was put on hold for several years during the Second World War.

In an effort to “rejuvenate” the event, Bedel said the town’s Lions Club took over in 1977 and has served as the organizer ever since.

“People look forward to it, along the race there will be people watching,” he said. “This is an opportunity [to be] again, part of that tradition and history that’s established for Fort Qu’Appelle and [the] area.”

The race originally started as a 20 kilometre run but has now expanded to include a 10 kilometre run and relay for novice runners, as well as youth.

Minett said he is thankful to see volunteers keep the tradition alive.

“[Fort Qu’Appelle] is a great community for lots of arts and stuff like that, but we also need to kind of have a little more, physical activity as well,” he added. “It’s great to get locals out, participating and being active.”