‘Mountie Maker’ obstacle course at Depot draws hundreds

The RCMP’s Regina Depot Division invited members of the public over on Saturday to give them an idea for what training to become a Mountie is like.

For the first time ever, it hosted the “Mountie Maker” obstacle race.

More than 400 people participated in the race on a chilly and grey Regina day.

RCMP Sgt. Audrey Soucy said it was done to give people a glimpse of what Depot life is like.

“This is where all the Mounties come to earn their uniform and their badge, so we wanted to give the participants a bit of an idea,” she said.

There was an event for adults and kids. The kids’ race was 2.5 kilometres with a few obstacles while the adult race was 7.5 kilometres and featured 26 obstacles.

“The idea of 26 is to mirror basically the 26 weeks of training that the cadets have to go through,” Soucy said.

Soucy said the obstacle course was also a way to drive recruitment.

The event had about 100 volunteers and got some help from the non-profit Run Regina in the form of logistics and equipment lending.

“We’re extremely happy with the turnout. We actually sold out, which we were very excited about,” Soucy said.

“I think it’s a great turnout. Although the weather is not the best today, it’s actually pretty good for running and everybody seems to (have) enjoyed their time here.”

Kim Woycik was one of the 400 people who enjoyed their time weaving their way through the course.

“It was a pretty tough obstacle course, but (it was) lots of fun today. They did a great job of organizing,” Woycik said.

The most difficult parts of the course for her were the climbing obstacles, while the mud pit was the most fun.

“It was a bit of a surprise. The water was pretty cold,” she said.

Woycik likes to keep active and enjoyed the challenge.

“It was deceptively deep and so you went through thinking it was going to be pretty shallow and then it got pretty deep so it slipped down,” Woycik added.

A man is getting ready to cross the finish line at he RCMP’s ‘Mountie Maker’ obstacle race in Regina on Sept. 23, 2023. (Daniel Reech/980 CJME)