The track at Ballenas Secondary School may be rough and visually not very appealing, but that didn’t matter to the dedicated athletes who train on it.
Distance runners from Parksville, Nanaimo and Port Alberni pounded the already battered course as they prepare for the upcoming North Island High School Championships in Powell River on May 4.
They ran laps around the cinder track fully focussed, determined and motivated. It was hard to ignore the spirited display particularly on a day when so much was going on at the field at one time.
Even the Mark Isfeld Secondary senior girls rugby team from Comox, who were playing against Ballenas, were so impressed that they applauded the athletes.
Coaches Kim and Randy Longmuir are proud of their athletes. They demand only one thing from them. That is, “to do the best you can with what you have.”
“The state of the track is sad but it’s all about your hard work and your spirit,” said Kim. “That’s what they’ve shown us in every training and that’s what’s going to make them successful.”
In School District 69, there is no other track facility except the one in Ballenas. Unfortunately, its maintenance has been dismal. And it shows. Some areas are still good, but some parts are extremely bad and pose great risks to the young athletes.
Kim has told her students that in Ethiopia, which has produced world class long-distance runners, the conditions of their training grounds are a lot worse. She has shown them pictures of the corn fields were they train.
“It’s about what’s in you and not what you’re running on,” said Kim. “The Ballenas track itself for the kids’ legs is actually really good. The cinder track is a lot more forgiving on legs.”
Kim said the Ballenas track, despite its rough condition, has produced top runners locally over the years that went on to acquire university scholarships and also compete at the national level.
Among them was Thomas Riva, who graduated from Kwalikum Secondary and was recruited by the University of Victoria. He won a national title in the 1,500m, winning the gold medal in Edmonton in 2015. He nearly made the Olympic team last year. Another local standout that went on to excel in university was Alycia Butterworth, who got a full scholarship at the University of Idaho and made the Olympic team trials last year.
“We’ve had quite a number of successful athletes that had trained hard on that track,” said Kim.
The Longmuirs train mostly distance runners. They used to be part of the Oceanside Track and Field. But this year they wanted to focus on helping athletes from Grade 8 to 12. In doing so, they formed the Mid-Island Distance Runners. Its members consist of students from Ballenas, Kwalikum, Dover Bay, Nanaimo District, and Alberni District secondary schools. There are also some who are not part of the club but still train under Kim and Randy.
Although the runners train together at North Island, they will be representing their respective schools. They will be competing against each other, but Kim said they are all very supportive of one another.
Last weekend, the club conducted time trials at the rubberized track in Courtenay.
“We made arrangements with one of the coaches up there for us to conduct an informal track meet because they have to run hard on a good track to try and get a good time in before the North Islands,” said Kim, who added this is one of the disadvantage of not having a proper facility to train in.
Kim said their runners will be aiming to do well and gain entry to the Island High School Championships in Victoria, May 17-18.
At the Islands, athletes in both the junior and senior divisions must finish in the top five to move on to the the BC High School Provincials in Langley, June 1-3. Grade 8 athletes compete at the provincials by invitation only. The top 24 are selected in each event from throughout the province.