The Bill Nielsen Trail Society held a party by Elizabeth Lake Saturday morning, joining 200 communities across Canada celebrating the full connectivity of The Great Trail, known as the Trans Canada Trail before its rebrand.

But the gathering was also a chance to commemorate the trails within Lacombe and to honour the late Bill Nielsen, who is credited as founder of the city's trail system.

The society was formed by Nielsen's friends to preserve his legacy by maintaining the city's trails.

Many of the group's volunteers were recognized for their work yesterday, including president Larry Michielsen, who received the Canada 150 Trail Hero Award, a one-time award bestowed by Alberta Trail Net to citizens.

"He found us mowers and equipment to get the job done. He's very instrumental in getting things together and keeping us together. You always need that leader and Larry's such a positive leader when it comes to the trails," said vice-president Diane Hayduk.

Larry Michielsen, president of the Bill Nielsen Trail Society.

As well, Michielsen pushed for the City of Lacombe to hire a seasonal employee to maintain them.

"This is really an award for Bill Nielsen, the society that kept the trails alive and also ... the City of Lacombe and Burman University to all work as a team together," Michielsen said about receiving the award.

"I'm a real big supporter of the trails because of the physical, mental health that it is good for." 

Nielsen died in 2014 at the age of 73.

At the time, Red Deer-Lacombe MP Blaine Calkins delivered a speech in the House of Commons paying tribute to the man.

Calkins said Nielsen was one to ask for forgiveness rather than permission, building trails in Lacombe by secret, carving them in undeveloped parks, using hand tools to avoid detection. He wasn't found out for six months.

Today, there are about 16 km of trails in Lacombe that people use for hiking, running and biking. They surround multiple lakes.

Nielsen was a prolific long-distance runner, running in 100 marathons, more than 30 of them while living with Parkinson's disease. He won his age category 37 times, including 18 in a row.

In 2001, he climbed to the top of Canadian masters rankings in the 60 year old age class.

He finished fourth in the 60 year old age class at the 2001 Boston Marathon.

Nielsen was also a builder of trails in Fort McMurray and was inducted into the Wood Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.

Red Deer Celebrates

From left: CARTS president Paul Pettypiece, Alberta Trail Net director Debbie Olsen, Rick Hansen Foundation ambassador Ryan Yeadon, Red Deer-Lacombe MP Blaine Calkins, Red Deer North MLA Kim Schreiner, Red Deer Mayor Tara Veer.

That afternoon, a similar gathering was held at Bower Ponds in Red Deer by the Central Alberta Regional Trails Society, a non-profit organization that does not build trails, but supports those that do.

Those in attendance heard that the TransCanada Trail pavilion at Bower Ponds will be replaced this fall. It will include new panels, one which honours four RCMP officers killed in the line of duty during the Mayerthorpe shooting in 2005.

Trail Hero Award winners were also announced: Debbie Olsen, Grant Johnson, Bev Hanes and Paul Pettypiece.