Nanaimo athletes look for personal bests at Elwood Wylie Memorial Meet

Nanaimo Track and Field Athletes practice at the Rotary Bowl

Sprint coach Mike Viers told NanaimoNewsNOW roughly 100 athletes from Nanaimo will take to the track, joined by competitors from all over Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland.

“We’ve had some major meets in Nanaimo over the years so people aren’t as afraid to come over and run here. They know our track, they know it’s a good facility.”

For the elite high school athletes, this is viewed as a tune up before the BC High School Championships which run from May 30 to June 1 in Kelowna.

Viers said it’s hoped his runners will show well this weekend and then have their best results next week.

“I don’t want them to perform at their absolute peak this weekend. We’re saving it for high schools. But I always love watching them prepare and train.”

Junior athletes from elementary and middle schools have a different focus, away from podium finishes.

“It’s still a chance for them to try lots of different events. They might not even know what their favourite will be or what they’ll be eventually specializing in,” Viers said.

“We have an award with our club at the end of the year for the performer of the meet that we usually give to one of our younger athletes so everyone’s gunning for that trophy.”

Though most competitors will be school age, the masters level features athletes all the way up to 80-years-old.

Much of the time and effort required to put on a track meet falls to parents of the competitors. All parents are required to put in some volunteer hours, much of which comes from setting up, taking down and running concessions.

Parent Liaison Cristi Lundman says it will be an early start on Saturday.

“We’re often here between seven and eight in the morning on Saturday, and Sunday we’ll probably close it down hopefully by seven,” said Lundman.

Lundman has three daughters involved in different events and said this is one of the most important weekends.

“This is where we require the most commitment from our families. Just to get this meet off the ground and have it run smoothly we need a lot of volunteers,” said Lundman.

The track and field events start at 10 a.m. on Saturday at the Rotary Bowl.

A complete weekend schedule is online at the Nanaimo Track and Field Club website.

dan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On twitter: @danmarshall77

by Dan Marshall

Nanaimo athletes look for personal bests at Elwood Wylie Memorial Meet

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