The Raiders cross-country running team crossed the finish line last week, which capped off a successful season for the Davidson School group that saw them compete in three meets and most recently the district championships last Thursday in Eston.
Karen McConnell, head coach of the running team, said the 15 participants in the group, who range from grades 5 through 9 students, had a demanding but fantastic year. She said the team gave their all to the sport that had the kids run through a gruelling before school practice schedule, not to mention the four meets they compete in during such a short period of time.
“I’m very proud of them,” said McConnell. “I’ve played and been involved with a lot of sports and I can honestly say that cross-country running is the most physically demanding sport I have ever been a part of and they did absolutely excellent.”
The coach had the kids up and running in the early morning hours two to three days a week along the walking trail in Davidson and also doing hill sprints by the Davidson Health Centre to get them used to uneven terrain.
She said they had to complete this rough practice schedule in order to be ready for the demanding meets they compete in that sees the Grade 5 students run through a 2 kilometre marked course, the grades 6 and 7 pupils through a 3 km course and the grades 8 and 9 students in a 4 km course.
“It’s more to set their pace (through practice) and then to be able to sprint after they’ve set that pace,” said McConnell. “They don’t want to start off sprinting the whole thing, because they’ll really never make it. You want to set a nice pace, but it is so demanding at the end of the race that they need to be able to have that sprint left in them for that last coming home stretch.”
She said the great thing about building a love of running in these kids at such an early age is it gives them a life-long connection to the sport that promotes a healthy lifestyle and a dedication to fitness.
“It’s a very easy sport to do, because all you need is a pair of runners. If you’re competitive with yourself, it’s a great sport to do because you can always push yourself to go faster. It doesn’t matter where you are as you can always have that as a physical activity to do.”