Messy weekend prompts Race for Responders to seek new venue after debut in Halkirk

Organizers seek a new venue after record rain, tight parking, and resident backlash in Halkirk

Messy weekend prompts Race for Responders to seek new venue after debut in Halkirk Published 12:23 pm Wednesday, July 15, 2026 Due to a variety of operational challenges, it appears to be one-and-done for Race for Responders in the hamlet of Halkirk, which ran from July 3 to 5. According to Nicole Ference, one of the event organizers, Race for Responders was affected by challenges such as record rainfall hitting the region leading up to the race weekend and tight parking due to more racers attending than anticipated.

Ference said that on the Friday before the event was set to begin, there were about 150 racers registered. In the subsequent week, entries nearly doubled, with around 275 racers in total. Over the three days of the competition, about 700 runs were completed.

One of the major issues facing the race was how saturated the ground was. Ference said late on Friday, the day the event was to start, she was notified by the County of Paintearth that staff had assessed the site and, due to the saturation, staff would like her to cancel. “I said, ‘It is 4 p.m. How am I supposed to cancel when I have people literally travelling nine hours who are on the road already?’”

Ference said. “If there was anything, we would move to a different venue. Unfortunately, the only option we had would have been Oyen, which was two hours from our original location.”

Ference added that the concession had already purchased $9,000 worth of groceries, which would have been a loss. Additionally, since the rental began on Thursday, July 2, for prep, organizers had already invested several hours into hosting the event at the site. According to Ference, with the county pushing to cancel their rental of the rodeo grounds, they tried to find another nearby venue, but aside from Oyen, venues were either unavailable or too small to accommodate the race.

Ultimately, organizers decided to press ahead with the understanding that they could receive a bill if there were undue damage to the grounds. During the event, Ference said most people in the community were supportive. “There were people that live in town that came, and they just jumped into the arena and started moving barrels and helping,” Ference said.

“A couple of them even came and they helped clean up after ... the town is fantastic.” Following the event, some community members took to Facebook complaining about how rutted the rodeo grounds had been left and the general condition of the site.

“What was disappointing this past weekend was the complete lack of respect and common courtesy shown toward the residents of Halkirk, their private property, and County of Paintearth property,” said Rae Cordel, chair of the Halkirk Elks Bullarama, in a public Facebook post. “Competitors parked wherever they chose throughout the village—blocking roads, driveways, and access points. Horses were tied on sidewalks, lawns, and driveways, leaving behind piles of manure and hay for residents and county staff to clean up.

The Bullarama grounds were also left in an incredibly poor state. I would estimate that at least 80 per cent of the grass areas have sustained significant damage. Deep ruts were left by trucks, trailers, tractors, and horses.

The ball diamonds, which the county had already planned to restore, also suffered additional damage ... it is truly heartbreaking to see our village left in this condition.” Race for Responders is put on in support of Boots on the Ground, a first responder-led peer support agency that offers critical incident stress debriefing, peer support and a variety of other services in Alberta for emergency services, military personnel and their families. The slogan for Boots on the Ground is “No One Serves Alone.”

Boots on the Ground has been operating in Alberta since September 2023. Ference said that Race for Responders generated nearly $40,000 in payouts for the racers and about $6,700 for Boots on the Ground Alberta. Due to the size of the competition, Ference said she is looking into establishing a more formal organizing committee to oversee Race for Responders and researching larger venues to host the race.

Race for Responders is sanctioned through the Alberta Barrel Racing Association. During July 3 Peewee racing, Cali Ritchie had the top time, with a run of 18.512 seconds. In the open on July 4, Edesse Descoteaux took first place with a run of 16.268 seconds.

For the youth, Cassidy Bandurka took top place with a run of 16.814 seconds. During July 5 racing, Descoteaux took top place with a run of 16.151 in the open, while Janice Kozma took top spot in the youth with a 19.892-second run. For full results, visit the Race for Responders Facebook page or ABRA website.