Glen Avon School hosted its third annual Panther Run at the St. Paul Regional track on Thursday afternoon, and for the third straight year the Racette Raiders took home top spot with a time of 1:27:45.
“It feels excellent, especially because lots of them had personal bests,” said Racette coach Kathleen Gerlinsky, adding that of the 12 runners from Racette, eight managed personal best times and one runner competed in his first ever race.
“Ben Jacques started with an 8:29 as his personal best and he finished with a 7:47, so he took about 40 seconds off of his mile, that’s pretty impressive.”
Second place went to the host Glen Avon Panthers, while Elk Point finished in third followed by Mallaig and Myrnam.
The event saw five schools from the area hit the track in teams of 12. Each runner completed a 1,600m leg before handing the baton off to the next athlete in the chain.
Glen Avon success coach Lynn Smid said that she helped start the event a few years ago as a way to get Grade 6s involved with running, while their elder junior high counterparts take part in the RCMP Road Race.
“It started because we wanted to give Grade 6s an alternative to running the RCMP Road Race, and it was safer to have them on the track,” she said, adding that the event gives the young runners an opportunity to compete on a full sized track, which most middle schools don’t have access to. “One mile intervals, 12 students per team, normally six girls and six boys.”
Smid added that she was very proud of the Glen Avon runners, who managed to keep just on the heels of Racette from start to finish.
“I think it was very close between Racette and Glen Avon, but I think what really stands out for me is that this is the first opportunity for these kids and this is a long race for Grade 6s to run, four times around the track, 1,600 metres. It’s a long race and not one of the kids gave up, they all gave it their best.”
Glen Avon will hold its school track and field event at the Regional track on Tuesday, while Racette will hold its own on Friday to determine which athletes will be sent to the SPAA finals on June 4.
