Bow Valley kids ahead of the pack at zone champs

Craig Douce RMO photo

Canmore’s Sam Hendry (465) races to second place in the midget boy’s division of Wednesday’s (Oct. 3) South Central Zone Cross-Country Running Championships at the Canmore Nordic Centre.

view all photos (-count-)

The Godfrey brothers, Lauren Turcot and Peter Hicks led a local contingent made up of 150 runners at the South Central Cross Country Running championships Wednesday (Oct. 3) at the Canmore Nordic Centre.

Trail runners from across southern Alberta, including Exshaw, Banff, Lawrence Grassi Middle School, Our Lady of the Snows and Canmore Collegiate High School battled chilly temperatures and new-fallen snow on the challenging Nordic Centre trails.

“I tried to keep consistent through the race. Lots like to start fast, so the plan was not to get into that,” said Hicks, who placed second in his division. He mentioned skiing with Canmore Nordic helped his race.

The Bow Valley cleaned up in the Junior Girls division, with Turcot taking first place in the three kilometre race (12:14.4), Emmy Phillips second (12:33.3) and Liah Harvie third (12:42.5).

Co-organizer Jeff Lodges said this year’s turnout was strong, despite cold temperatures.

“The weather started rough with the snow, but it was good running weather. It melted, but it wasn’t too muddy,” Lodges said.

While several visiting schools performed well, Lodges said several local cross-country skiers had an advantage running at the Nordic Centre.

“We change up the course every year, but the big thing is a lot of our kids are active. A lot of them train here and are used to the altitude and terrain. That’s the advantage of living here,” Lodges said.

Top runners include: Megan Orvig (third, bantam girls), George Reed (third, bantam boys), Anita Martin (second, midget girls), Sam Hendry (second, midget boys), Reed Godfrey (first, juvenile boys) and Ty Godfrey (second, juvenile boys).