St. Paul Hosts a Successful 42nd Annual RMCP Road Race

The annual RCMP Challenge Cup Relay is more than a yearly gathering of junior and senior high school teams to run the 12-mile course in an attempt to bring glory to their high schools. Besides crowning the ultimate winners, the affectionately known RCMP Road Race, hosted by St. Paul in 2024, is symbolic of the ongoing collaboration and community spirit in the Lakeland region to sustain such an event over such a prolonged period.

With the challenging high school relay event having recently completed its 42nd annual running on 7 May, the coming together of organizers, runners, spectators, law enforcement officials, and sponsors bears testimony to the tight bond of community evident in the Lakeland area. 

While a few participating students may go on to future success in the sporting world, the vast majority will experience a sense of accomplishment through competing and finishing that they’ll carry on to adulthood and throughout their lives. 

What Was at Stake?

No bookmakers were offering betting odds for the competing teams this year or in previous editions, nor did supporters find the results in online sportsbooks to celebrate winning wagers. The sense of competition remained, though, as every runner on the 12-member teams strived to improve their final results over their one-mile individual legs. 

Why mention sports betting at all, then? We use it to emphasize the importance of the camaraderie between teammates on each of the 19 participating teams despite the lack of “high stakes” that so many adults rate as essential to many senior sporting events. 

Hopefully, most of these students will progress to college life, with some representing their schools on athletics tracks and playing fields where their prowess and achievements will affect the odds at play. For now, the community’s appreciation of their perseverance and tenacity is the most meaningful stake for them, along with ensuring their team’s overall finishing position.

It’s almost certain that a few RCMP Road Race relay team members over the past four decades have moved on to sporting greatness at the college level and beyond, with some of the 2024 race’s community supporters avidly taking the time to gamble online to support their progress. For those, it’s imperative to make the most of supporting your favourites by being as informed as possible. 

“Best Sports Betting Canada helps you find the top sports betting sites in Canada that offer top bonuses, betting options, and unbeatable odds.” (source: bestsportsbettingcanada.ca)

For now, the emphasis on the current Road Race competitors was to cover each leg of the relay as quickly as possible to beat the opposition and take 2024’s RCMP Challenge Cup Relay Senior or Junior Trophy back to their Lakeland school.

The Course

Although conditions were not ideal for this year’s event, the 200+ entrants braved the rain at the 10 am start to provide a competitive race for the slightly sodden spectators who gathered along the route.

The RCMP Road Race began two miles west of St. Bride, making its way down Highway 29 towards St. Paul, finishing at 4802 53 Street, the home of the St. Paul Recreation Centre. St. Paul RCMP was again the event’s host, in tandem with St. Paul and Area Victim Services, with the teams finishing the race just after 12.30 pm. 

The Results

With Lakeland schools from more distant locations like Lac La Biche, Beaver Lake, and Cold Lake taking part in the 2024 RMCP Challenge Cup Relay, it was ultimately Glen Avon School in St. Paul that took the Junior High RCMP Cup home for the first time in 27 years. Last year, the local school had missed out on victory to Racette Jr. High School by only three seconds but reversed the result this year.