Entire student body takes part in Terry Fox run at CDDHS

Written By BRIAN LOCKHART

Students at Centre Dufferin District High School got into the spirit of competition and some healthy exercise while supporting a good cause when they participated in the annual Terry Fox Run on the school's running track the week of October 5 to 9.

The event was organized by students in the Sport and Rec Leadership class.

Participants ran four full laps on the track – that's one mile.

“Our class ran on the Monday and the rest of the classes ran on Tuesday through Friday,” explained organizer Lindsey Decker. “We asked that each student run four laps during their 20 minute period. We could only have one class running at a time. We asked everyone to run a mile for Terry.”

Amazingly, every class in the school took part in the run. If participants couldn't run the entire mile, they could finish walking – and everyone participated.

“Every class got a chance to run,” said grade 12 student, Makenna Hare. “They got a 20 minute period to run. The grade twelves ran laps with them. We ran pretty much with every class to get them to complete their four laps. We also made posters and were around the track cheering them on. We had some people attempt a five minute mile – that was a real challenge.”

The kids in the Leadership and Rec Class learn how to motivate their fellow students on campus.

“Our goal is to try and build school spirit and motivate the students to take part in school and do their best,” explained  Kayleigh Sobon, who helped to organize the event. “For the Terry Fox run we had a bunch of cheerleaders and we were out there running with them. We tried bonding with them as some people at first didn't want to run and we talked them into it. It's all about making them see what they can do and realize the possibilities. We tried to motivate them. We tell them ‘you can do it,' even if they don't really want to, and eventually they start believing you.”

Some of the students decided to go the extra mile during the run and really get some exercise. The record for the run was 13 laps, which is equivalent to over three miles.

Students ran in groups of six and up to a maximum of 20 on the track at one time.

The Sports and Rec class enjoyed organizing the run and motivating their fellow students.

“I'm glad I'm here. I'm having a lot of fun with this group,” said grade 11 student Max Dempster. “I enjoy motivating the rest of the school and bringing out the school spirit. Normally the Terry Fox Run is a big group effort. This year because of COVID-19 we had to break it up into smaller groups. Each class had to be motivated differently.”

With no school sports currently being played this year, the run was a terrific chance to give students the opportunity to be part of an outdoor group activity that was not only fun it gave them an opportunity to challenge themselves.

“We made a map of Terry's run that he actually did from St. John's to Thunder Bay,” explained CDDHS head of athletics, Matt Barlow. “Our goal as a school was to see how far we could get along that trail that Terry ran. We did 1,277 kilometres as a school. This event was for awareness and bringing everybody together to run for something the virtually everybody has been affected by in one way or another. Our Leadership and Rec class did a phenomenal job. For four days straight they were out there yelling and screaming. We even ran through some hail.”

The annual Terry Fox run is held across Canada as well as other parts of the world to raise money for cancer research.