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A surplus from second PoCo Grand Prix

The July 14 cycling event in downtown Port Coquitlam came in $26,454 under budget.
PoCo
The second annual PoCo Grand Prix.

The second annual PoCo Grand Prix delivered a surplus for future years of the bike race in downtown Port Coquitlam.

According to a report that went before yesterday's Healthy Community Committee, the competition that brings in amateur and professional racers from around the world drew a bigger payback for the organizing committee.

The one-day event, held on July 14, was $26,454 under the proposed budget of $77,000, wrote Glenn Mitzel, PoCo's area recreation manager, though an extra $10,000 spent on marketing.

Still, the additional advertising cost was offset by a $34,900 savings in contracted services and rentals, and a $23,250 boost in in-kind donations over the inaugural year.

Mitzel said the projected budget for the third PoCo Grand Prix will remain at $77,000 — despite the surplus — because of the potential loss of $14,000 in cash and in-kind contributions with the recent sale of Cap's Westwood Cycle to Trek Bikes Canada (Cap's was a key sponsor and race supporter); fluctuations in sponsorship; and rising rates for contracted services, supplies and rentals, among other things.

In 2015, city council earmarked $425,000 to host the five-year race — or $85,000 per year — of which $135,000 has been spent to date.

Meanwhile, Mitzel said other numbers were up over the first PoCo Grand Prix (except for the corporate challenge race): 

                                  2016    2017

Volunteers                 180       244

Kids race                   206       300

Spectators                 5,000   7,500

Sponsors                   26        31

In-kind donations      $41,750 $65,000

Cash donations        $108k    $102,154

Biz Expo vendors      29        33

Biz Expo revenue     $5,950   $7,950

PoCo's recreation and communications departments also worked about 800 hours — at a cost of $56,000 — on the event, which wasn't billed to the organizing committee.

Sponsored by Dominion Lending Centres, next year's PoCo Grand Prix is set for July 13, 2018.

 

Other PoCo news:

PoCo city hall was slightly over budget for the 37th annual Terry Fox Hometown Run, held in September.

In her report to the Healthy Community Committee, which met Thursday, Sandra Battle, PoCo's community and civic events co-ordinator, noted the city spent $200 more than the $14,400 budget on labour, materials and contracted services.

The run to honour the national hero is one of the biggest in Canada, drawing about 3,000 participants and raising more than $50,000 for the Terry Fox Foundation.

Next year's run — from the Hyde Creek recreation complex, over the Coast Meridian Overpass to Terry Fox Library — is expected to have more road dividers to separate runners from vehicles on Coast Meridian Road, she wrote in her report.

jcleugh@tricitynews.com