Beautiful weather and smiling faces made for a great day of racing at the annual Good Spirit School Division (GSSD) cross country meet held at Deer Park Golf Course on Monday.
And there were even more smiling faces than usual on throughout the day as a GSSD record breaking total of 600-plus students from 21 different schools took part in the 2014 edition of the event.
But according to Pat Holtkamp, media relations woman for the GSSD, the record amount of participants could not happen if it were not for the volunteers, both teachers and high school students, that put their time and effort into making the event a huge success. "Events like this don't happen without the help of everybody," offered Holtkamp. "A lot of the teachers come out the night before to help set up, then they come back here the next day and are here all day.
"We also have high school kids running here who are also helping out before their races so we're very appreciative of that as well."
Holtkamp is also aware that there are athletes, young and old, taking part in the meet strictly for the competition; however she believes that competition is not the main goal for this particular cross country meet. "We're all about the participation. As long as the kids are out here and trying their best, then that's all anybody can ask for," suggested Holtkamp, continuing, "Everybody is out here and having a great time. This is a great way to get kids interested in cross country, having them out here on a beautiful day at this great facility.
"There are children that are competitive of course, but as I said we're pushing for the participation and anybody that is going to come out here and run and participate from the schools will be welcome."
The next cross country meet for the participating athletes will be this Friday, September 26 in Saltcoats, Saskatchewan.
