Pandemic not slowing down high school runner
Bridgenorth teen showcases his speed at NXTChamp Invitiational Track and Field Meet in Toronto
After more than a year of training by himself, Erik Unger affirmed he’s still among Ontario’s top young distance runners on the weekend.
The 15-year-old Bridgenorth resident won the 800 metres, 1,500m and 3,000m junior division races at the NXTChamp Invitational Track and Field Meet at York University’s Toronto Track and Field Centre.
The Athletics Ontario-sanctioned event invited the top 16 high school competitors in each discipline and age group.
Michael Unger, Erik’s father, said it was meant to simulate the 2021 OFSAA meet which was cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic. He said organizers wanted to call it “Not OFSAA” but weren’t permitted to use the name.
Erik, who is entering Grade 11 at Adam Scott Collegiate, won the novice boys gold medal at the 2019 OFSAA cross-country running meet when he was in Grade 9.
The pandemic cancelled the 2020 and 2021 OFSSA track meets and 2020 cross-country championship.
During that time period, Unger trained under his father’s guidance at their farm.
He returned to competition earlier this month running a 1,500-m at the Golden Horseshoe Hurdles Meet in Hamilton. He finished sixth in the open race and first in his age group.
“I loved the chance to see where I had improved or unimproved since the last time I raced,” Unger said.
“I wanted to see how I compared to other competitors my age and older. I was happy to be able to race again.
“At first, I was a bit rusty. I hadn’t been used to the adrenalin of a race, but I’m starting to get back into the hang of it.
NXTChamp was a huge success for me, so I’ve been doing quite well over the pandemic.”
The training made a difference although it was tough at times to get up for it without a race to focus on.
“I was quite lucky because we have a farm and fields to run on. Once the lockdown restrictions started to ease up, I could go to tracks or parks to get better training. I felt I was really lucky in my situation where I could keep training throughout the pandemic.
“Training without a club I didn’t have other people to train with, so there was no real gauge for me to see how I was doing other than my times. The meets are an opportunity to race against other people and not just times to see how I compare.”
Next up is the Athletics Ontario under-20 championships at York University this weekend.