I SPOTLIGHT I
Going the
Distance The elementary kids in Hole Hornets demonstrate the benefits of running BY RUDY HOWELL
NEITHER JANELLE GRICE or her Grade
Two students at Sir Alexander Mackenzie Elementary School knew quite what they were getting themselves into 14 years ago when the class, after learning about Terry Fox and his Marathon of Hope, asked “Why can’t we finish it?” Grice, who had been a runner her entire life, told the children that they could, but it was going to take a lot of work because 3,000 km of the marathon remained. So, for the rest of the school year, the class would run nearly every day, either outside or in the gymnasium, combining their efforts so that when the class of 20 students each ran a kilometre, they would have a total of 20 clicks that day. During the last week of school, the students competed in the annual 5K RunWild race in St. Albert, reaching their goal of 3,000 km, completing Fox’s Marathon of Hope. They also inspired Grice to start a running club at SAM called Grice’s Gazelles which would be more focused on simply getting kids active. “It just kind of became a tradition in my class as something we do,” says Grice. “It became a thing where kids would think, ‘I want to be in Mrs. Grice’s class because they go running,’ or ‘I don’t want to be in Mrs. Grice’s class because they go running,’” she says. 30 T8Nmagazine.com
