Name: The Foolish Fox Trail(ish) Race
Start: 2024-11-09T09:00:00-05:00
Location: Thames Valley Golf Club, Sunninghill Avenue, London, ON, Canada

Welcome to The Foolish Fox Trail(ish) Race! We're excited to have you join us for the third edition of London's Coolest Race!

Why "trailish?" Well, it's on a golf course, which isn't exactly a trail. We hope you'll gather with us on November 9th to celebrate the end of the 2024 running season!

We will be offering the following running options at this event:

New Era Grafix 5k (ish)

New Era Grafix 10 (ish)

BackRoads Brews + Shoes 25k (ish)

Always Moving 6 hour All You Can Run (individual)

Structural Panels Inc. 6 hour All You Can Run Relay (team)

You'll be on a golf course, but there's no need for golf clubs (and no, you can't use a golf cart either). We recommend trail shoes due to the unpredictable weather of November, although, if the ground is dry, you should be OK in regular road shoes. Cross country spikes are also permitted.

All events will take place on the Hickory Nine at the Thames Valley Golf Course which is nestled in between the Thames River and Riverside Drive in London. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Thames Golf Course, so why not celebrate with a run?

It is a looped event, where you will cover a 2.5 km (ish) loop around the course (it measured out nicely to 2.5 km last year, however, there may be some slight variations from those measurements during course set up in case we have to avoid groundhog holes, roaming foxes, or errant tee shots).

The looped nature of the course will allow you to see your running buddies throughout the day.

The terrain is non-technical, run almost entirely on the very well manicured golf course grass, but you will have some elevation gain to keep things interesting.

As with all of our events, a portion of each registration will be donated to the Children's Health Foundation in support of children and their families in our community. You can also set up your own personal fundraising page while registering. The top fundraiser will receive a free race entry to next year's race.

Race Sanctioning

Once again, The Foolish Fox is proudly sanctioned by Athletics Ontario.

Race Schedule

Packet Pickup

All local runners are encouraged to pick up their race kits prior to race day in order to avoid congestion and line-ups. Tentative pickups are as follows:

November 7th, 2024

BackRoads Brews + Shoes

1295 Riverbend Road, London, ON

5:45 p.m. - 7:45 p.m.

November 8th, 2024

BackRoads Brews + Shoes

10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

November 9th, 2024 Race Day

On race morning, race kits will be available at the start/finish area beginning at 8:00 a.m. If you are picking up your race kit on race morning, please give yourself ample time to do so.

9:00 a.m. 5 km/10 km/25 km start

9:05 a.m. 6 hour individual/6 hour relay start

Timing

All events will be electronically timed by Chiptime Results. Your timing chip will be attached to your bib.

Aid Station/Washrooms

We will have an aid station located near the start/finish area. Hydration and food options will be available. There will be a limited number of recyclable paper cups out during the early part of the event to accommodate the 5k and 10k runners. Longer distance runners are asked to bring your own reusable cups to reduce waste. You will have access to the aid station every 2.5 kms. In addition, you may purchase food from the clubhouse.

Portable washrooms will be located near the start/finish area, so you will have access every 2.5 kms.

The aid station food is also the post-run food, so feel free to grab some snacks and drinks after your run.

Relay Specifics

Relay teams may consist of a maximum of four runners.

Each team will have one timing chip which will be handed off to be worn by the team member on course. How you choose to divide up the distance is up to you. There is limited space to set up camps on site which is why we are limiting the relay to a maximum of 15 teams (have one person sign up on behalf of your team, and we will collect other team member names closer to race day). You are welcome to bring a shelter, just make sure you don't stake it into a sprinkler (golf course sprinkler systems are probably expensive).

Please make note, that the race is in November in southern Ontario, so any, and all weather is possible! Bring those layers for your downtime. The start/finish is not far from the main parking lot if you want to hop in your car to warmup.

Gather some running buddies and come on out for a fun day!

6 hour individual

You are welcome to bring a shelter, just make sure you don't stake it into a sprinkler (golf course sprinkler systems are probably expensive).

Swag, Medals, Prizes, and More!

Each participant will receive a Foolish Fox toque, and a pair of Persistence Racing touchscreen gloves. Along with our Persistence Backyard Ultra hoodies, the Foolish Fox toques are probably our most popular swag items! We see past runners sporting them all the time! If it's cold on race day, you can use them to keep you warm, and/or use them during your winter training runs after the race.

Each runner will receive a custom Foolish Fox finisher's medal.

Our race photographer will be on hand to capture all of your awkward running facial expressions. Your photos are yours to download, FOR FREE.

The Foolish Fox is the race where everybody has a chance to win! Rather than give awards for the top finishers in each race, we like to do things a bit differently for this event. We will hold a raffle where all registered runners will be eligible to win prizes. We will hold the draw once registration closes, and have prizes available for distribution at race kit pick up. In other words, everybody has a chance to win something at this event no matter how fast you are.

Here are some of the prizes we have lined up for this year. We'll be adding more as race day approaches!

1) Free race entry to the Springbank Sprint (5k or 10k)

2) Free race entry to next year's Foolish Fox (individual race)

3) Free race entry to next year's Howling Ghost (8k, 16k, or 24k)

4) Outway socks (multiple winners)

5) Persistence Racing meshback caps (multiple winners)

6) Structural Panels Inc. sweatshirts (multiple winners)

7) Free race entry to The Farthest.

If you win an event, you just get the glory of victory and bragging rights..(but, you have a chance to win the prizes too). We'll also have our podium on hand so you can still take your glorious victory photos!

Overall finishing position in relation to others in your selected gender category will still be given in the results.

Parking

As the other 18 holes of the golf course are still open for golf on race day, parking may be limited. We strongly encourage you to carpool if possible. There is a parking lot at the course, in addition, there is overflow parking on the field adjacent to the parking lot.

If those are full, there is alternative parking located at 205 Wonderland Road South (Springbank Gardens Community Centre on the map below). You will have to enter Springbank Park on foot and walk across the bridge to reach the course (the walk from this lot to the start/finish is approximately 1 kilometre).

Event Records

Jason Kennedy 23:23 (2023)

Hanna Nelson 26:17 (2023)

10k

Joshua Graham 46:53 (2022)

Clara Wright 52:03 (2023)

25k

Sean Rasmussen 1:58:41 (2023)

Lauren Klavir 2:52:41 (2023)

6 Hour Individual

William Pitts 65 km (2023)

Krista Allen 60 km (2023)

6 Hour Relay

Cirque De Sore Legs 80 km (2023)

Refund Policy:

There are no refunds for this event. However, life happens. Work trouble, running injuries, a bad paper cut, we get it. If you have to withdraw from the event prior to October 9th, we will give you a 100% race credit for a future Persistence race.

If you need to withdraw after October 9th, you will receive a 50% race credit. Sorry, but by then we will have already paid for your stuff, and the resale market for unclaimed race swag and medals is unfavourable.

(credits will be minus taxes, fees, and donation)

Thanks for taking part in the Foolish Fox. We can't wait to gather the running community to celebrate the end of a great running season! It would be foolish for you to miss it!

Other Races

Be sure to check out all of our Persistence races here.