Runners and other track and field competitors have had to find new ways to keep in shape and communicate with their coaches during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Dan Marshall/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Dan Marshall

Season in Doubt

Where there’s a will, there’s a way: Nanaimo Track and Field athletes train through self isolation

Apr 2, 2020 | 7:49 PM

NANAIMO — The spread of COVID-19 has put the local track and field season is on hold indefinitely. However training continues for high performance athletes in the region.

The Nanaimo Track and Field Club is complying with BC Athletics rules which state all clubs are to suspend practices while physical distancing rules are enforced in the province.

Kate Cameron, 2019 Island Junior Girls champion in the 800m and grade 11 student at NDSS said training has continued but in a dramatically different way on area trails.

“My coach is still sending out workouts but he’s kind of toned them down a bit,” Cameron said. “He’s tried to make it easier to do them either on the road or in trails around our houses.”

With recreation facilities closed through Nanaimo including the Rotary Bowl track, Cameron has also been doing some strength training at her home and meeting with coaches and team mates via video conferencing.

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All practices and competitions up to May 31 have been cancelled which include four of the six meets scheduled to take part on Vancouver Island.

Among the cancelled events is Nanaimo’s premiere Elwood Wylie meet in late May.

Nanaimo Track and Field Club spokesperson Phillip Vannini told NanaimoNewsNOW the reality is proper training will continue to be very difficult.

“Without coach supervision and without the company of their fellow runners it is extremely difficult to train,” Vannini said. “Because gyms have shut down, unless they have their own home gyms, it is nearly impossible to replicate the high intensity workouts that our athletes do.”

The forced hiatus impacts more than race times and personal bests. Results for grade 11 students like Cameron can be crucial in getting on the radar for colleges and universities offering track and field scholarships.

“If we do not have a season, we have no knowledge on how Grade 11 athletes can meet scholarship standards,” Vannini said.

Cameron said the new reality has not sunk in yet.

“I’m used to seeing my friends all the time at the track and doing workouts with them and having that support system,” Cameron said. “It’s kind of weird picking a time in the day doing a workout where I have to be by myself.”

dan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On twitter: @danmarshall77