They call it the Midnight Sun Fun Run. While one of those ingredients went missing on Saturday, the rest were intact.
The sun disappeared behind cloud for the first time in a week and rain fell steadily for periods on Saturday night, but the weather – and the bugs – didn’t deter 87 people who started the 2025 fun run.
Eight of the hardiest souls began the half-marathon at 10pm, including one man attempting to race that distance in every province and territory. Ten-kilometre and five-kilometre participants started a little later.
The Town of Inuvik dedicated the event to the memory of Steve Krug, the municipality’s parks, recreation and leisure services director, who passed away unexpectedly a week ago.
“Steve always had an unmatched passion for sports and recreation,” organizers told runners at the start line. “This was one of his favourite events. We’re very happy to be here carrying it on today.”
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In a last-minute change, the route – which was to have taken runners out along the road to the community’s airport and back – was switched to involve a loop around downtown Inuvik instead.
“We’ve had a couple of incidents over the last few days of bear spottings along our route,” said Inuvik senior administrator Cynthia Pihlaja as she prepared for the five-kilometre event by listening to some Nina Simone. (She switched to Pitbull and George Thorogood once the run began.)
“As much as we have patrol vehicles, not every vehicle is with every runner, and we did a quick pivot just to make sure we could still run this safely. It might be in town, not as picturesque, but we’re still running under the midnight sun,” Pihlaja said.
“I wanted to run down the Dempster a bit but it looks like plans have changed,” said half-marathon runner Adam Thom, referring to the highway that connects the town and the airport. “I’m just going with the flow.”
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Asked about the bears, Thom responded: “I’m more worried about the mosquitoes.”
Thom gathered at the start line with Lance Gray, who said he was running to prove something to himself after rupturing his Achilles last year, and Emma Windfeld, who was also on a personal mission.
“I have wanted to do this race since 2020 when I was in Inuvik and it was cancelled for Covid for two years in a row,” Windfeld told Cabin Radio, “and I’m finally back.”
“I have a temporary tattoo of a caribou on my calf that is meant to scare away the bears,” Windfeld added, though she acknowledged that approach “logically won’t work.”
Several tourists had signed up to take part in the run, while resident Kayla Demont, who said she is leaving the town soon, had registered to run her first half-marathon in Inuvik because of the event’s unique nature.
“I can do a half marathon anywhere, really, but doing it at 10pm at night and with the midnight sun is great,” Demont said.
Kiyo Campbell, an Inuvik resident originally from Ontario, was the first person to complete their race distance on the night, finishing well clear of any other contenders in the 10-km category.
“It’s just a fun event for the community and it’s nice also to test yourself. It’s great to see that the MSC is still doing it despite the circumstances,” Campbell said, referring to Krug’s passing and using an initialism for the Midnight Sun Complex, the facility that forms a hub for the town’s recreation staff.
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“When I first moved to Inuvik, I did a little bit of research,” said Pihlaja as she moved on to some pre-race Ella Fitzgerald.
“The two things that made me want to move here were the Sunrise Festival and the Midnight Sun Fun Run.
“It’s a draw not only for the community, bringing the community together, but also the tourists that come. And where else can you run under the midnight sun?”
