2:00 a.m. ’11K on Remembrance Day’ run returns for third year

A Prince George-based veteran of the Royal Dutch Army has his own way of celebrating Remembrance Day.

On November 11th at 2:00 a.m., Derk Grooten will be running 11 kilometres through Downtown Prince George.

“I think overall we have a very good thing going on here with the ceremonies at the Civic Centre, the Parade, and the wreath-laying and silence at the Cenotaph,”

“The only thing I was missing was something physical, I wanted to do it, I couldn’t quite put the finger on how I wanted to do it.”

In 2021, Grooten came up with the idea of creating the run to be done on November 11th.

“I came up with the idea a couple of days before November 11th in 2021, so I only had a couple of days to organize some people coming to join me,”

“The first year we had eight people who were crazy enough to get up in the middle of the night and run 11 kilometres with me through the downtown area. The next year I got the PG Roadrunners on board, they offered the run as part of their virtual run series on their calendar. We doubled the numbers last year and I’m hoping to do that again this year.”

The run starts at 2:00 a.m., which Grooten said has a special meaning.

“On the 11th day, of the 11th month, at the 11th hour, that hour has been chosen because that’s when the Treaty of Versailles came into effect in Paris at the end of the first World War,” he explained.

“Paris is nine hours ahead of us, so 11 o’clock in the morning there would be 2:00 a.m. here, so that put me right in the spot where I would thought would be significant for us to run at that time.”

The route starts at the overflow parking from the Aquatic Centre, goes down Massey Drive past the Fire Hall before heading downtown past the Cenotaph, the Legion building, and the Prince George RCMP detachment.

The runners will then head to Ospika Boulevard and 5th Avenue by the North District RCMP detachment and Fire Hall #2, before heading back to the Aquatic Centre.