CRYSTAL RHYNO – Running with Rhyno
Two Kateri Mission school kids stole the running spotlight at the second annual Fall Classic Road Race last Sunday.
Schoolmates Courtney Leduc, 11, and JP Puszka, 12, placed in the top three in their respective 5k races.
Courtney’s mom Lori, fought back the tears as she watched her daughter snag second place for her time of 25:16. And the floodgates opened wide for JP’s parents – Carol McKinley and Peter Puszka – as JP took third for his time of 25:27.
“I was really surprised,” said Courtney, a competitive swimmer. “Because I improved a lot of time from the last race I did. I was really, really proud of myself.”
In fact, Courtney did not expect to win anything.
“I was just going in for the fun of it and … I wanted the mitts.”
All race participants received a pair of the limited edition Grande Prairie Run/Walk Club mittens.
Courtney’s older sister, Sydnee, 12, also raced with an impressive 27:52 time.
Lori said she and hubby, Rob, do not know where to begin about how proud they are of both their daughters.
“They both loving running but Courtney actually loves running more than Sydnee,” said Lori. “We had no idea she would be able to run that fast.”
Hmm… Lori? Watch out. Next year, your daughters may beat your 5k time of 22:44 (2008 Brian Harms Memorial Run). Bets anyone?
JP doesn’t have to wait to surpass his dad’s time. Peter finished the 5k in 31:33.
“I feel magnificent,” laughed JP. “I think it was so awesome that I beat my dad.”
The media-savvy youngster says he has a love/hate relationship with running. JP is on the cross-country team at school. Mom Carol said his first race was when he was three or four years old and he ran the Canmore Challenge, an obstacle course for kids at an adult race. Carol and Peter are incredibly proud of their son.
“Usually people older than me usually do better,” said JP. “So I was pretty happy that I did well enough to place.”
Courtney and JP were just two of the whooping 134 participants in the Fall Classic. That’s double the 67 participants from the 2008 inaugural fall race. Race director Lorna McNeil was thrilled with the growth.
“It certainly is an indication running and walking is growing in the community,” she said. “The thing that really impressed us were the number of families that signed up together. I love that.”
Very late on the night before the race, McNeil and her faithful sidekick/co-race director, Robert Carroll, wondered why they organized the race.
“Because it is like work,” said Lorna. “But it’s when you hear all these wonderful stories, it’s so worth it.”
Find the race results and GP Run/Walk membership information at www.gprunwalk.com
Virtual Training
On the day Janet Fisher ran her first 10k, her first grandson was born. That was three and a half years ago.
Now 54, Janet is counting down the days before she runs her first marathon: The San Francisco Nike Womens Marathon. (And she is pretty sure there won’t be any new additions to her family that day.)
Running a marathon has always been on Janet’s bucket list. Sometime last year, Janet came across a story about the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team In Training (www.teamintraining.org).
“I thought if I was going to run one marathon in my life, I might as well run it for a cause,” she said, noting a girlfriend in college had leukemia. “She has recovered and is doing awesome. I thought 20 years ago, she might not have (recovered) if there weren’t people out there raising funds.”
What is really cool and shows fantastic dedication on the part of this feisty grandmother of three and mother of two is how she trained.
Get this. All of her training support was done through the wonderful world of the Internet. Each week she would receive tips and advice from trainers, nutritionists and coaches. Each member raises funds for the society.
“Running the long runs by myself was the hardest,” said Janet. “But my husband ran with me and we would do the last 15 kilometres and put out my Gatorade. I was lucky to have a good support system.”
Janet will meet the other 31 members of Team Purple (named according to colour) – from various parts of Canada – a couple nights before the race in San Francisco.
A seamstress by trade, Janet says, she runs more than she sews.
Pretty in Pink
Yes, you were seeing pink at the Fall Classic. Led by our petite drill sergeant, Amber Hunter, our Women of Strength squad kicked butt. For some of us, we were at the end of week four of our training for the Las Vegas half-marathon. That day, we were scheduled to run 12k.
So we ran the 10k and called it a day. Nope. Not us. We ran past the finish line to clock those extra two clicks. We are just that hardcore. Find out how hardcore in my next, where you get to meet the Grande Prairie women heading to Vegas. Among them, you’ll meet speedster Karen Lauzon, animal lover Loni Boychuk, blonde bombshell Delaine Haugson, and my coworker, Roxy Hebert’s cousin, Jen Boyer. We have an interesting mix. Stay tuned.
