Cross-country teams volunteer with Pearl Creek Elementary School
October 1, 2012
Jamie Foland
474-6807
The Alaska Nanooks men's and women's cross country teams wrapped up another season of volunteering time with the Pearl Creek Elementary School Puffins' running club on Monday night.
"This year's turnout was really positive to see," said interim head coach Matt Dunlap. "We consistently had more people then we did in the past, which shows us that people are hearing about it. In my opinion it shows that running in general is growing here in Fairbanks and that's important for the future."
The Blue and Gold have spent 45 minutes each Monday evening for five of the last six weeks running, stretching and playing games with Pearl Creek's runners and their parents. Typically there have been between 50 and 60 participants in addition to six to eight of Alaska Nanook runners, who lead exercises and games.
Following a large group stretch, the participants break into five or six groups based on age and running ability and go for about a 25 minute run around Pearl Creek's sports fields and nearby trails. After the first portion, the small groups reconvene in the large grassy area below the school to play games for the remaining 20 minutes.
Dunlap continued, "Anytime the teams go into the community and are interacting with younger kids, its all about showing them that athletics is fun. It's not just about running workouts, but enjoying the process."
"It's fun to watch their development as time goes on too," he continued. "The older kids want to go out and run the whole time, while the younger kids just want to play the entire time. Its great to witness that transition even from a young age."
Pearl Creek's running club practices with the Nanooks on Monday nights and competes in races with other interior elementary schools on Thursday nights. Tomorrow's races at Chena Lakes mark the final competition of the school year.
According to Dunlap, the Nanooks get just as much out of the effort in mentoring the Pearl Creek runners as the young runners do through interaction with their group leaders. "It's fun for our student-athletes to get off campus once a week for something that's running related but doesn't directly pertain to their individual training. It's also rewarding for them to be reminded of where they came from and what they loved about running when they were kids."