Charity fun run looks to support local Yellowknife coffee shops

Cameron Twa loves coffee. He also loves running. He doesn't care much for global pandemics or the impact ithas to local businesses in his hometown of Yellowknife, especially to his favourite coffee shops.

That's why the avid runner and coffee drinker is inviting residents to get up and moving Sunday for a charity event for local baristas hit hard by COVID-19.

"I was hoping to get a hundred people," he told CBCTrail's Endhost Lawrence Nayally."We're apparently up to 120. That's a really good start."

Twa is organizing the coffee fun run in partnership with the Yellowknife Multisport Club and the Yellowknife Rotary Club.

There's a big sense of community here and we're kind of losing it.- Cameron Twa

It's part of a series of five-kilometre challenges he hopes to host this year.

The entry fee for the coffee run is $30. Participants get a $20 gift card to a local coffee shop. The rest of the money will goto local baristas. People 17 years old and under can join for free, though the gift card is excluded.

"Anybody can participate," Twa said.

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"Walk, run, roll ultimately there are no race marshals here. You just can't do it as a group."

In a world of physical distancing, the starting line will look a little different. Runners can join a virtual corral via Zoom Sunday morning. They are then encouraged to head outside. There are no set distances and no prizes for finishing first.

"It's just to be active, to get out and enjoy nature," he said.

Besides raising money for the staff of coffee shops in the city, there's another motivation behind the event.

"There's a big sense of community here and we're kind of losing it," Twa said.

"I notice people don't say hior wave, they just kind of like look down and avoid each other," said Twa.

"One of the things I really want to accomplish with this event here is to have people cheer [for] each other and just say hi and assume everybody's part of the event and just create that sense of community, even though we can't be together."