More than 1,000 elementary students from the Maple Ridge – Pitt Meadows School District participated in a pair of cross-country races last week.
Intermediate students raced along a 2.5-km course through wooded trails at Alouette Lake on October 22, while the primary students dashed around a 1-km course at Albion Sports Complex on October 23.
“I love everything about these two days,” said Carmela Bassetto, SD42 cross-country coordinator. “Just seeing the encouragement and support for all of the participants from their teammates as well as the spectators helps to make this event so much fun for everyone. It is so great to see all the schools compete; it’s an inclusive team sport where everyone is contributing to their school community.”
Leadership students from Maple Ridge Secondary School (MRSS) helped out at both races.
“The older kids did such a great job cheering for the racers, giving high-fives at the finish line and even wearing fun costumes while ‘rabbiting’ for the primary grades, to make it fun for them. I loved to see the interactions between the two age groups,” said Bassetto.
“In addition to that, they also helped with handing out ribbons, collecting team scores for the intermediate kids, rabbiting and turtling races, and helping with the parking lot at Albion. They were amazing.”
Bassetto said putting on the SD42 cross-country races would not be possible without huge contributions from a team of dedicated volunteers.
“Thank you to everyone involved in staging these events! We would not be able to do it without them,” she said.
