Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2007-10-24, Page 12Poge 12 The Huron Expositor • October 24, 2007 y Local runner to compete in cross-country provincials Fresh from record-breaking run earlier this month, Shannen Murray will run in Burlington Aaron Jacklin 11111111111111110 In a cross country run in Brampton last weekend, Shannen Murray, 13, hit the wall. But it was a good thing. "My legs just gave out," she said, explaining that she'd had a particularly rig- orous practice a few days before the meet. "Shannen had her first experience of lac- tic acid buildup," said her mother Faye Murray, a long-time runner herself. Shannen is a Grade 8 student at Huron Centennial in Brucefield. A cross- country runner both in and out of school, she's had a good year so far, winning two multi -school races and there, but expect it to be big. Faye said that it's hard and that she remembers what it's like. She started running when she was as old as Shannen is now. She ran country roads, going five kilo- metres around a country block, saying she did it "just to see if I could." Faye's also run marathons - most recently the Boston Marathon in 2001 - and in recent years has run the Dancing in the Dirt 100 km endurance relay race. Shannen points to her mom's love of running when quizzed on how she got into it. "Mom's always done it," she said, noting that she tried it out herself in Grade 4 at school and ended up .>x `I get really nervous before a race. z get Worried. But. afters it feels so good. It feelslike I've accomplished something,' Shannen Murray breaking a record in Stratford. The race in Brampton this week- end was part of her preparation for this weekend's provincial championship in Brampton, called the Mini Track Association Championships. "I feel kind of nervous," she said, laughing. "I've never been to the big Ontario meet before." Having never been to it before, neither Shannen nor Faye know quite how many people will be winning. Shannen said she likes the way running makes her feel. "It's awesome when you win, the feeling of doing well," she said. "I get really nervous before (a race), I get worried. But after it feels so good, I feel like I've accomplished something." She said the feeling is still good even when she doesn't win, in part because she doesn't have to worry about it anymore. While the two share a love of running, they don't share it together. "We don't run together. The rea- son is that she's too fast," said Faye, noting that while they may start off together, both Shannen and her sister Jordann, 11, are too fast for her these days. Shannen and Jordann both joined a cross-country running club over the summer. The club was started in August by Baird Robinson, a teacher and track coach out of St. Anne's in Clinton. Between the meets she goes to through school and the running club, Shannen has been to five so far this year. She went to two with the school, the regional meet in Hullett and the Avon Maitland District School Board meet in Mitchell, winning both. With the club, she competed in Barrie in late September and again in Stratford a couple weeks ago. At the Stratford meet, called the Patrick Cook Memorial Run, Shannen broke a record of 7 min- utes, 12 seconds set last year in the 13 -year-old girls' 1,800 metre race. Her time: 6:57. Then came the Brampton meet last weekend where she hit the wall. "I didn't have a good run because we had a hard practice on Thursday," she said. Shannen said their coach knew what he was doing and worked submitted photo Shannen Murray, 13, of Brucefield, com- petes in the regional cross-country meet at Hullett. them hard. "This (meet), he said, was just kind of a glorified training run, so it didn't really matter," she said, noting that it was to prepare them for the provincial champi- onship this weekend. The MTA Championship Meet will be hosted by the Burlington Track and Field Association. Vanastra curling will start soon with a rare number of beginners Aaron J a c k l i n Seaforth Community Hospital Foundation Fundraising Campaign PACS Campaign Our Goal $213,283 Current Donations $175,713 While the numbers are still coming in, it seems like there are going to be more people this year at the Vanastra Curling Club, according to Connie Van Loo, who is in charge of membership. • "I think I've got nine new ones, and that's rare," she said. One person saw an ad and contacted Van Loo. "She hadn't curled in 22 years," said Van Loo. "She's coming back." The adult season starts in a few weeks, with men's curling starting Monday, Nov. 5 and ladies' the next night. "Wednesday night is called the industrial league and is mixed," she said. "It's a little more competitive. If you've curled a lot, it's a fun night." And on Friday nights there are two times, 7 and 9 p.m., with the latter being "strictly fun." "I think there are five new ones coming out to that one," Van Loo said. "That could be interesting." Thursday nights, on the other hand, will be devoted to junior curl- ing starting Nov. 15, according to Estella Higenell, a parent involved in the program. They're in the process now of get- ting kids signed up, calling last year's players by telephone. "We do an early phone registra- tion, and they just come and pay the first night they curl," said Higenell, noting that some ads have run in the Clinton News -Record. They had close to 60 juniors last year, but Higenell said that number may be different this year because some of last year's curlers were in late high school. "Some of them will be dropping out, but hopefully we'll get some new ones in," she said. While it's still early to tell just how many new kids they'll have, Higenell said there are a few already signed up. "We have two or three new ones that are hoping to come out," she said. Hignell said Vanastra runs two sessions each Thursday, with the younger curlers starting at 6:30 p.m. and the older ones at 7:30 p.m. "We'll run a 20 minute to half an hour skills and drills session, then a 20 to 40 -minute game," she said. Kids interested in competing can take part in the Ontario Curling Association's competitions put on for different age levels. "Teams can be made up, we'd find coaches and then they'd go into the different competitive events," she said.