From the left: Gilles Parisien, Derek Spafford and Justine Plummer take a quick break from making sure everything was ready for the race to begin. Thompson Goddard Photo

SOUTH DUNDAS – It was a beautiful winter’s evening, complete with an almost full moon, for participants in the 2025 Dion Ignite the Night snowshoe race at Upper Canada Village (UCV) on Jan. 11. This was the first of seven races in the 2025 Dion Canadian Snowshoe Series and is the only one held in the evening and was the 10th anniversary of the race held at UCV.

The event was organized by Gilles Parisien and Derek Stafford of Spafford Health and Adventures, and sponsored by Dion Snowshoes. Racers were able to snowshoe around the historic setting of UCV, with the beautiful lights from Alight at Night still glowing in the darkness and seasonal sounds heard along the route.

There was a 5k loop, as well as a 5k and 10k timed race which began and ended just outside the Harvest Barn at Upper Canada Village. Parisien noted that 105 people had registered for the event, which included people from other parts of Canada and the United States of America.

One of the participants was Libby Fraidine who recently relocated to Ottawa from Australia, who with Shirley Masson of Russell, Chantal St. Pierre of Carp and Christel LePetit of Ottawa participate in Parkrun Kanata and decided to register for the event.

Parisien mentioned this was the 10th annual Ignite the Night Snowshoe Race, had 105 people registered for the event and was a fundraiser for the Winchester and District Memorial Hospital (WDMH) Foundation – Family Care Fund.

“The funds raised will go towards the WDMH Foundation’s Family Care Fund” said Justine Plummer, Manager of Direct Mail & Events in a post event email to The Record. She continued by thanking “Gilles Parisien and his family for putting it all together and choosing to support the WDMH Foundation and Winchester District Memorial Hospital.”

Parisien wished to thank Dion Snowshoes who is the title sponsor of the event, XACT Nutrition, Spafford Health and Adventures, WDMH, UCV and all the sponsors of this event. He thanked the volunteers for their dedication and a special thank you to Cornwall Tourism and SDG Tourism.

Once the race was over participants were able to enjoy a courtesy chili dinner and an awards presentation for the top racers in the event in the Harvest Barn.

Bernie Hogan of Bancroft came in first in the Men’s 10K Race, with Charley Murphy of Toronto in second place and Hugo Duguay-Boucher of Ottawa in third. The Top Male Master in the 40 plus category was David Kania of Freeville NY.

The Female 10k race saw Susan Durrell of Ottawa in first, Elizabeth Nurse of Cornwall in second place and Yvonne Mary of Ottawa in third place. Jill Trower of Ottawa was the Top Female Master in the 40 plus category.

In the Men’s 5K race Geoff Richards of Cobourg took first place, with Evan Raz of Woodland finishing second and Rick Balderson of Nepean in third spot. Joe Albert of Lac Des Loup was the Top Male Master in the 40 plus age category.

In the 5k women’s division Heather Lewis of Ottawa took first place, Deanna Rothwell of Ottawa was in second spot and Chloe Freund of Paul Smiths, New York, USA was in third place. The Top Female Master was Joan McCuaig of Newington in the 40 plus category.

The complete race results are available at www.healthandadventure.com as well as more information on the race series which includes the 11th annual Dion Summerstown Forest Snowshoe race on Feb. 8.