The 2024 Monarch Ultra Run and Monarch Festival took place on Saturday September 21st at Millennial Park in Peterborough, Ontario. It was a perfect day weather wise. The same event was held last year in 2023 on October 15th at the same location. Although it was a success, last years event was wet and extremely cold. But we all made the best of it.

Even though I live a two and a half hour drive from Peterborough, once again it was an honour to be a part of the Monarch Ultra planning committee. From where I am, communication for me was all done through email and Zoom. My role was much less hands on than the other committee members. I mostly just posted Monarch Ultra updates on Twitter (X platform) (my preference) and Facebook, while Monarch Ultra co-founder Carlotta James updated Instagram. If you use any of those accounts feel free to give us a follow. It really blew me away with how much planning is involved with an event like this.

Having lost the use of my little Prius a few months ago I have hardly driven at all since. So I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it to Peterborough for the monarch race and festival. In looking at other options I checked first with the train. I love travelling by train. But of course, passenger rail service ended in Peterborough in 1990. Southern Ontario at one time was lined with rail routes connecting towns and villages. Several towns in the 1980’s I have personally boarded or departed a train, where sadly today a train station and rail lines no longer exists. The vast majority of these rail lines have tragically been abandoned in my lifetime and the tracks subsequently ripped out. When these lines are lost, we lose the untapped potential to deal with present and future challenges. Abandoning railway lines should be the last thing we do in the climate change era. Brian Doucet and Sean Marshall write in TVO Today in an article titled, End of the Line: Why Ontario Will Regret Ripping Up This Rail Corridor: “In an era of climate change, we need to preserve existing rail routes and stop building new highways, rather than the other way around. The provincial government needs to have the long-term vision to create the kind of future that provides sustainable transportation choices for passengers and freight, instead of a future where we are stuck in cars and trucks.“

Then I checked the bus availability. I learned that the best route connections from Barrie (the closest bus station) to Peterborough would take me a depressing 10 hours and 40 minutes. Almost 8 hours of that involved a overnight layover in Toronto. Other connections actually went downhill from there. For 158 kilometers of travel, that is way too long. Cycling was another option. Google Maps told me it would take me 9 hours (actually quicker than the bus) to cycle the 158 kilometers from my home to where the Monarch Race and Festival was held. It would have been a big day to cycle there, but I was really seriously considering it. As I thought more of this, having to bike along dangerous, hostile to cyclists highways to get to my destination, I ended up changing my mind. My wife was sensing how much deep anxiety I was having over this travel thing and offered to drive me to the event with the car she drives to her work.

My wife and I arrived shortly after the end of the children’s 1 kilometer fun run. The atmosphere was buzzing and electric. Many adults were said to have tears in their eyes watching the children run their hearts out for the beloved monarch butterfly. So many children were dressed up in really beautiful monarch themed costumes. Each of the young participants in the fun run got a medal. Just like the big people who would run the 10k. Encouraging children’s physical activity is so important. The 2024 Participaction Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth was released this past May 7th. The grade for overall physical activity for Canadian children was a D+. This is a slight improvement over the D in the previous report. The report mentions it “is still an undesirable grade as it reveals that only 39% of children and youth (five to 17 years of age) in Canada are getting the recommended 60 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity per day.” As a school crossing guard I am constantly advocating that parents walk or cycle with their kids the up to 5 suburban blocks here in Hillsdale to school. Instead of driving them to school. The children always come through my crosswalk happy and relaxed. They bring me much joy. Walking or cycling is so much better for the children’s physical health and mental well being. Parents who walk with their children get to spend quality time with them, without all the distractions. Plus it means one less car on the roads.

Following that, was our sold out 10k race. It was wonderful to have the Toronto Pearson Airport Runners Club choose the Monarch Race as a destination race. They hired a school bus and travelled on it together from Toronto to Peterborough. This is so tremendous for their lower race travel footprint. Near the finish line there was a busy footpath that crossed the race course. I marshalled that crossing as the runners poured it on to the finish. So important that both runners and pedestrians were safe. It was wonderful to cheer on the runners as well from my location. Runners who would set that goal of 10k and then to see them smash it at the race was extremely exciting. Running Room founder John Stanton is a big fan of using organized events as goals. Runners get to experience the excitement and joy of a race. The cheering, the camaraderie and the entire upbeat atmosphere boosts runners energy, and he or she finishes strong. So it becomes an amazing highlight that is never forgotten.

Just a few meters away from the finish line of the Monarch Race was the Monarch Festival, which began shortly after the race ended. It was really amazing seeing all the vendor tents set up. When you think of vendors, you often think of selling things. Some did, such as the two fantastic local restaurants La Hacienda (providing authentic Mexican cuisine) and The Food Shop (providing wonderful, healthy locally sourced food). Both offered delicious food for purchase. Each volunteer was given a coupon that they could redeem for a meal at either booth. Most of the vendors were actually local non-profits manned by volunteer staff who gave up their day to share their expertise and knowledge and passion for our planet with the public. There was often also lots of informative brochures and pamphlets available at those booths. These organizations no doubt would love to see growth in their memberships and/or donations, so as much as I could, I’ve provided their web links in the paragraphs found below. My wife Lynne and myself, along with some other committee members/family members were manning the Monarch Ultra booth. It was such fun chatting with the public. A member of the Toronto Pearson Airport Runners Club summed the day up as he shared with me how impressed he was with everything. He said he has been to a lot of races supporting different charities. But never one as unique as the Monarch Race. With all the information he gleaned at the booths, he left with much greater appreciation of how important our pollinators are. And how they need all the help they can get.

The vendors not listed above, will be found below with their web/social links. If any of these booths had photos taken at the festival and would like them edited in, I would be more than happy to do so. You can send them to my email: carl.58.wright@gmail.com.

Peterborough Pollinators: a citizen-led initiative to spread pollinator gardens throughout Peterborough – bringing health, beauty and the experience of nature to our neighborhoods and daily lives.

Peterborough Public Library: Mission Statement, “Our Library will inspire our community to become more literate and engaged”. Vision, “We are an agent for positive community transformation through interaction, discovery and learning”.

Camp Kawartha: An accredited, not-for-profit organization offering a broad range of innovative year-round camping, outdoor and environmental programming. They also train educators, provide workshops on sustainability and they are working with our whole community to foster stewardship through every age and stage of a child’s development. They showcase sustainable living in action.

Youth Climate Action Club: Is led by elementary and high school students who want to raise awareness and educate others about climate change and make a real difference towards saving the planet.

GreenUp: Has worked diligently to empower climate action and inspire lasting change. As an environmental education organization, their work today covers many aspects of sustainability including community building, green infrastructure, sustainable transportation, waste management, and energy efficiency among other themes.

Kawartha Lakes Lightning: Offer a non-for-profit running club which was designed to meet the needs of competitive runners across various age groups and abilities. They also offer a race series called Twisted Trail Series.

While the vendors were at their booths there was a full schedule at the main stage. Starting with awards for the top three female and male runners, monarch themed costumes and fundraiser, followed by tremendous guest speakers and performers. With what is happening with our planet, I often experience a lot of climate anxiety. This festival really did my heart so much good to hear of the positive pro-active things happening for pollinators and the overall health of our planet.

An event like this could not have happened if it were not for the over 40 volunteers. Thank you to each one for generously giving of your time. There were also so many wonderful sponsors who gave so generously. Whether it was our chip timing, a room for the use of the volunteers, supplying food for the runners, gifts for the volunteers, water for the runners, graphic design for our website/social media, providing wonderful prizes for the winning runners, the top fundraisers, the best monarch themed costumes or the winners of the art competition. Or donations of money to help cover long list of event expenses, it was all so much appreciated.

Our fundraiser for this year’s event is once again for Nación Verde (Green Nation), a non-profit environmental organization in Mexico that works towards conservation, greening schoolyards, and the protection of our environment. Nación Verde is playing a vital role in protecting habitat for monarch butterflies and other forest dwellers at the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve by planting Oyamel fir trees throughout the region. We are currently at 95% of our $5,000 goal. Online donations can be made on our fundraising page.

After the festival ended we all pitched in to help one another pack up their booths. Lots of hugs with old friends, lots of hugs with new friends. Then Lynne and I headed out for our two and and half hour drive back to Hillsdale. While sitting in the passenger seat I kept thinking about what was shared as I helped one of the non-profits pack up their booth. They were talking with an young adult couple who had no idea what pollinators were. This is a sad reality of the world we live in. People have increasingly become so disconnected from the natural world.

Which was a reminder why the work of the Monarch Ultra and all the other environmental groups that shared in our day are so important. It has been such an honour to be a part of the Monarch Ultra for the past 5 years. It was so amazing to be running in Mexico in 2019 and spending those 10 days on the road with the team. Which brings us to our next event: The Monarch Ultra Film. Create by documentary filmmaker Rodney Fuentes, the World Premiere will be held Wednesday, October 23, 2024, 7:00PM-9:00PM at The Historic Market Hall Peterborough, ON. Tickets available through this link. Thank you for reading.