The SA race is back on 1 May and it has given a huge boost in the number of participants. From 355 in 2023, there are 850 running-happy children and adults registered the day before the race.
Got some left
The SA race has a long tradition in Sarpsborg and only the pandemic stopped the race. Previously, it was held on a Saturday, but now the organizers Trøsken IL, iSarpsborg and Sarpsborg Arbeiderblad have chosen to put it back to 1 May.
– I am absolutely certain that it is the change to 1 May that is the main reason why we have more than doubled the number of runners this year. Today, Tuesday morning, there were 350 adults and 500 children registered. The nice thing is that follow-up reviews come in all the time, so we probably haven’t seen the final number yet, says technical manager at Trøsken IL Thomas Hjelbak.
The record in the SA race was set on 1 May 2013, where 1,095 runners were at the starting line in Kulås. After that, there has been a gradual decline in numbers, but this year there is again a huge upswing.
Really looking forward to it
At Sandesundsveien school, there are four students in particular who are really looking forward to the SA race. Some have run before, while others will be doing it for the first time.
The four who are ready for the race Andreas Helgesen (12), Mons Woodruff (11), Ingrid Breistein (12) and Eira Nordnes (11).
– I am looking forward to running on 1 May and have been waiting for it. I’ve taken part in the past and it added flavor, says Andreas Helgesen, who will run the 5th km on Wednesday.
Mons Woodruff has decided to run half the distance of 2.5 km, while the girls Ingrid and Eira are running for the first time in the children’s race.
A party in the city
– The number we have now reached, I never thought we would achieve. Now this will be a big party in Sarpsborg town. With many thousands of people in place, this will be a great start to the 1 May celebrations. Here, all you have to do is wake up and take the trip to the city to be part of May 1’s most beautiful adventure, says general manager Bente Kjenstad Jæger of the city company iSarpsborg.
Bente is clear that it is the move to 1 May that is one of the reasons for the large influx, and that SpareBank 1 Østfold Akershus made it free for all the children. This made it possible for all children to participate.
– On 1 May, not much else happens on the sports front in the morning, while there is something completely different on a Saturday at the end of April. It is quite clear that 1 May is here to stay, as far as the SA race is concerned, says Bente Kjenstad Jæger, who will be running himself.
Sarpsborg Arbeiderblad’s editor Bernt Frode Lyngstad had not quite foreseen the great increase in the number of participants.
– We had hoped that we would now take the steps in the right direction again, but not with such speed as we have now done, says a satisfied Lyngstad.
Lyngstad can also promise that there will be terrible weather on race day, so you just have to make the trip to Kulås if you’re going to run or just watch it and start the day.
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