St. Paul RCMP hosted its 33rd annual RCMP Road Race last Thursday, with participants from 12 northern Alberta schools coming out to compete in the 12 mile relay run.
St. Paul Regional finished first in the high school category for the 13th straight year with a time of 1:09:57, while Racette claimed first place in the junior high category for the 23rd year in a row in 1:11:15, and Ashmont was the first open division team to cross the finish line at 1:19:00.
The race is organized into three divisions, junior high schools, high schools, and an open category. Teams are made up of 12 runners, alternating between male and female athletes for one-mile intervals.
The race started a few miles west of St. Brides, and concluded just over an hour later at the Recreation Centre.
“The RCMP put on a really nice event,” said Racette coach Gilles Gervais. “It’s been going on for 33 years, and I know our school really enjoys going.”
Gervais was happy about claiming the school’s 23rd straight victory, and said he was not only proud with the way his athletes competed, but with their dedication to training as well.
“Our team trains really hard, and then they come to the mile and find it easy because they’re in fairly good shape. They run the hardest mile of their lives, they don’t want to disappoint anybody and they don’t want to lose. That’s why they go all out,” Gervais said. “The kids really enjoy it.”
St. Paul Regional High School athletic director Hank Smid said that he was very impressed with the performance of the school’s runners, and happy to carry on the tradition of victory into its 13th year.
“The kids ran hard. I think pretty much from leg three we held the lead, and each one of the kids was very strong and competed for the team hard,” Smid said. “We’re really proud of the tradition that we’ve set in the school, and hopefully that will continue into the future.”
After a tumultuous winter season that extended its way well into spring, participants of the RCMP Road Race were gifted with near perfect conditions, as the wind speed was low, and the temperature was just right.
“It was awesome,” Gervais said. “The conditions were great, it wasn’t too hot, no wind.”
Smid pointed out that the RCMP did a fantastic job of becoming involved with the community as the race approached, and both students and teachers developed a great deal of respect for the local peace officers as a result.
“I think it’s a great community effort that they do to try and get involved with the community and with the kids. The interaction they have with them prior to the race, and having the members of the RCMP run with the kids, I think they gain a lot of respect from the students and the teachers by doing that,” Smid said, adding that with the RCMP in charge, he had no concerns in regard to safety.
“It’s dangerous, I guess, in some respects, but the RCMP do their best to make sure that the kids are safe . . . following the leader and tagging behind the last place person, and having cars in between, I feel pretty confident taking the kids there. They do a great job.”
