Soap Box derby takes place on Sudbury's MR 80 on Saturday

A soap box derby will take place this weekend in Sudbury, and one organizer says the location is meant to create positive memories out of a tragic event.

It will take place in Hanmer, not far from where three teens were killed by a drunk driver.

Six years ago, Jazmine Houle, Steven Philippe and Caitlin Jelley were run over.

Derby organizer Leanne Lavoie, who is also with the Human League said she lives close to where the teens were killed.

"Unfortunately, for the past six years, there's no avoiding that feeling you get when you drive past that location," she said.

"Everybody knows what happened there. It's just been kind of a cloud of sadness."

Lavoie spoke with the parents of the teens to see if they would be alright with the race taking place at the same location. She said they loved the idea.

"My thought was if we could bring some laughter to that hill again, maybe we can change the feeling that we have when we drive by," she explained.

Police to have 'tickets in hand'

The race will take place on Municipal Road 80, which will be closed for the races.

Participants will be sorted by age and weight, and then start to race down the hill.

After racing for about 800 meters to the finish line, Lavoie said local police will be there with speed radars to determine the actual speed.

"They will have tickets in hand in case they did exceed the speed limit," she said.

"And we're going to have hay bales in case they go a little too far."

Lavoie said she hasn't tested the course yet, as it is on a road, but said an official with the Soap Box Racers Association has checked out the site already and will be there again this weekend.

"He confirmed it was absolutely a dream location for this event," she said.

The group purchased 24 cars for the races, as not all participants have had time to build their own.