Nearly 400 athletes are expected to take part in the annual Elwood Wylie Meet May 25-26 at the Rotary Bowl in Nanaimo. (NTFC)

By Dan Marshall

Off and Running

Nanaimo Track and Field Club to host annual Elwood Wylie Meet

May 25, 2024 | 8:48 AM

NANAIMO — It will be an eventful spring and summer for the Nanaimo Track and Field Club.

Their signature event, the Elwood Wylie Meet, takes place on Saturday, May 25 and Sunday, May 26 followed by the BC High School Championships in June and the Provincial Track and Field Jamboree in July.

The NTFC will host all three of these events at the Rotary Bowl with club spokesperson Kim Cameron saying a strong turnout is expected for the Elwood Wylie.

“Last year we had 347 athletes with 22 participating clubs. I would think we’ll at least match that number and we’ll probably have over 400 athletes.

Local athletes will be joined by competitors from all over Vancouver Island with very a wide age range.

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“We do have a couple of events for our Track Rascals to participate in,” Cameron said. “Our track rascals are six to eight year olds and we have two events for them, a 50 metre race and a long jump competition. The oldest athletes will be in their nineties.”

For many of the athletes the Elwood Wylie Meet may be their only event of the season so Cameron said the organizers want to make it a memorable experience.

“We do our best to make sure that there’s everything going from lots of people to cheer them on and make sure we have a timing system at the corners. We have food trucks there as well. It’s kind of a celebration of track. For some kids especially those nine to 13 it might be their only meet, so some of them will go out and do every event possible.”

Nanaimo athletes like Rhys Beaudoin, Ava Gauthier and others are looking to post results to make the Team BC standard.

“That standard is set by BC Athletics,” Cameron said. “Those who make Team BC would then go on to represent the province at nationals which is the third week of June as well as Legions which is youth nationals in August.”

Organizing three major meets in just under two months is a massive challenge but Cameron noted the work has been ongoing for a long time.

“As a board we put a committee together a year and a half ago knowing we would have Jamboree for two years and the BC High School Championship coming this year. Doing a lot of work for one big meet means it’s like a well oiled machine. A lot of the organizing is similar.”

The BC High School Championships get underway June 6 to June 8 while the Provincial Track and Field Jamboree is slated for July 7 to 9.

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