BORN TO RUN
Westmount elementary school’s Kids’ Run Club helps young people lead healthy lifestyles
Kids’ Run Club helps young people lead healthy lifestyles.
As the clock strikes noon, a group of keen young runners files out of Robin Foote Elementary and gathers on the school grounds, to hear principal Stephen MacDougall discuss the routes they are about to take.
“Just a reminder, don’t wear a heavy coat, because you’re going to be too warm,” he said, as they set off.
The students are a part of the school’s Kids’ Run Club. It’s a free, non-competitive initiative that Doctors Nova Scotia has offered throughout the province since 2004. The program is intended to help young people get and stay active and learn about healthy lifestyles.
In Cape Breton, 43 schools representing more than 17,500 students take part in the program, including those from the Cape Breton-Victoria and Strait regional centres for education, Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey, Conseil scolaire acadien provincial and private schools.
The program is intended to be adaptable for all ages and abilities and can be used in schools either during class time or as an extra-curricular activity. Many of the events are also a chance to bring the community together to support and encourage active, healthy lifestyles.
Colby Rudderham is a Grade 5 student who been running as part of the school’s club for about three years.
“I play a lot of sports, so I thought I might as well try running,” he said, adding those other athletic pursuits include hockey, basketball, football and baseball.
“I just like running, to see how far I can get. The more I run, I feel like I can run farther every single time.”
He has taken part in the Fiddlers’ Run the last couple of years and said it’s a fun day with so many people around.
Rudderham is already talking about running a five-kilometre race, MacDougall noted.
“He’s really improved, he’s one of our leaders, for sure,” he said.
“Probably six or seven (kilometres), I want to see if I can run that far,” Rudderham added, when asked if he has any other goals in mind.
It’s the first year that Grade 2 student Clara Beth Andrews has been involved in the run club.
She said she’s always liked to run and it’s a bit of a family activity for her, as both her mother, father and sister run as well.
Running is an accessible activity for young people because “the only thing you really need is a pair of sneakers,” MacDougall said.
“The kids love to participate … we did a pumpkin run early in the year, now we’re preparing for the Fiddlers’ Run and
our participation is fantastic,” he said, adding they run three times a week.
“They’re competitive, they want to go against themselves, they want to try to improve their time, increase on their distance and they just love it. The kids running club has provided an opportunity for us to kind of work towards something.”
Nicole Lalanne, Kids’ Run Club representative in Cape Breton, noted Robin Foote has a high percentage of students and staff taking part in the running club. “What’s unique about this school is they do different
runs every week, so one week they might do hill training, another week they might do a longer run, some days they might do it on the fields collecting popsicle sticks for every lap they do,” Lalanne said.
This year, the Doctors Nova Scotia Youth Run is on June 2nd, beginning from the Big Fiddle on the Sydney waterfront.
For more information visit www.capebretonfiddlersrun. com.