New running club at HMK
- Details
- Published on Friday, April 17, 2015
By Eoin Devereux
The Neepawa Banner
The new running club started at Hazel M Kellington School is hoping to inspire a lifelong love of physical activity in Neepawa’s youth.
About 120 students in grades two through five participated in the group’s initial run, which was held on Friday, Apr. 10 and began at the HMK gymnasium. The youth, along with a few teachers and parents, ran a pre-determined course near the school over the lunch hour.
Jennifer Byram, who organized the club, along with Jody Byram and Myrna Denbow, said that its creation is a means of promoting a healthy living lifestyle to students at a young age.
“We know that running can promote better academic performance, mood. It’s something you can do individually. It’s not something that has to be competitive. It can just be something for personal goal setting,” said Byram.
Byram noted that the early response to the running club has been very positive and even a little surprising. She said they were not expecting that many students to be interested, but are very pleased to see it’s something that has generated this type of reaction.
“We’re amazed with the initial response. Originally, we thought that we’d end up with maybe 40 kids coming out and participating, so we’re all really happy with this outcome,” said Byram. “It’s been supported so well by parents and staff as well and that’s good because it indicates there is a desire for this type of club in Neepawa.”
Byram added that the group will continue to meet on a weekly basis throughout the spring and hopes to grow into a long term option for the students.
“This being the first year for the club, what we’d like to do is maybe have a cumulative run, perhaps at Riverbend Park, but really that’s not really in the works yet. We’re still just getting everything put together,” said Byram. “The club will met once a week in school [at HMK]. We’ll send them home with a little run schedule that maybe they can do at home themselves. Hopefully this is something that we can continue in subsequent years.”
