Chilly Half Marathon floods the downtown core and brings traffic to a halt on Lakeshore Road.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON.  March 6, 2013.  It was close to perfect weather for a solid 5k run and Burlington was just the place to do it – along Lakeshore Road with either water on one side of the road or grand homes you could never afford to live in but are nice to look at on the other side.

The Chilly 5k is a commercial venture that brings 3500 + runners to the city.  They flood the downtown core and with the Performing Arts Centre open they had a place to store their gear while they ran.

Last year, when Mayor Goldring announced the start of the event he said in a rather grand voice that Burlington was the running capital of the province.

His statement was very close to the truth.  Burlington hosts the Chilly 5K and the Santa run.  Both draw thousands.  What kind of economic impact do these people have on the city?   Anyone driving through downtown Burlington Sunday afternoon would never have known there was a massive event earlier in the day – so it appears they don’t stay very long.  But while they are here – they take over the town.

Clearly an economic development opportunity here – if we could keep even a thousand of them in town for the balance of the day the merchants would feel the love as they say in the biz world.

Kune Hua, A cinema photographer with a sharp eye when looking through his lens and a fast hand in the editing room – expect to see more of his work in the city.

Kune Hua,  a cinema photographer with a very deft touch and an ability to catch the mood of an event.  He appears to have a fine eye and a very practiced hand in the editing room.  Hua, who has done some excellent work for the city in the past, decided he wanted to capture this event and spent the day out on the street with his camera.

This piece of film along with others he expect to be doing are being collected under his What’s Good in my Hood collection of videos that will be featured on Our Burlington and other platforms Hua is developing.

He is currently marketing his services to the commercial markets and has created a number of packages that fit different budgets and cinematic needs.  This is a fellow worth watching.  www.trueessencemedia.com

The race, more of a mixture of young people who really want to race and thousands of others who are out for the day.   While Lakeshore is a lovely location there are others in the city that are just as pleasant to use and less intrusive in terms of traffic flow. No word yet on just how much was raised for the Joseph Brant Hospital.


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