(Bianca and friend Mya, extreme right, head out on 5k road run Sunday.  Photos 250 News)

Prince George, B.C. – Brilliant sunshine greeted the hundreds of people who turned out at Masich Place Stadium on Sunday for the 28th Annual Road Race and the YMCA Healthy Kids Day which included the Healthy Kids Marathon.

A total of 295 participants registered for the Road Race events which included a ½ Marathon, 10k and a 5k race.  The runners rounded the Masich track before heading out on marked courses along city roadways. The 5k event was tackled by the oldest competitors of the day, 86-year-old Grant Yule and his young 81-year-old bride Jean, and the youngest, 6-year-old Bianca Branco.  Bianca and her 6 1/2 year-old friend Mya Friesen were taking part in their first-ever sanctioned run event.

This was also the first 5k event for friends Kate LeCorre and Celinea Scofield, whose first comment after crossing the finish line was, “I can’t believe we did it!”  Celinea says “we’ve done over 5 (kilometers) but we always had to stop at least twice for about two minutes.  This time we ran 5k without stopping at all, so that was our big accomplishment today I think.  We’ve only been running for 8 weeks.”  Kate adds “we did the learn to run 5k program with On The Move Fitness.”  Previous to that neither of them had ever run.

So was it tough?  Kate says “I thought I was going to have to stop for a couple of minutes one of the times but she was ahead of me so I just kept following her, if she can do it I can do it.”  We asked what drew them to enter this year.  Celinea says I think the challenge for sure, not thinking we would ever be able to do anything like this and knowing what our bodies are capable of that we never realized before.  And just doing it together helped.  I don’t know if I could do it myself.  Doing it with Kate definitely pushes me and we motivate each other.  If one’s having an off day then the other one gets stronger because the other one is doing it, so we work well together.”

Kate explains the preparation that went into building up for this road race.  “Eight weeks, three times a week.”  Celinea adds “and when we started it was only run a minute, walk a minute five times.  That’s how we started and now we’re up to 5k without stopping once.”  So now that the first one is in the books will the friends, who met through their kids being enrolled at Hart Highlands Elementary, make it an annual thing?  Kate says “ya, we want to for sure.  Maybe next year we’ll do the 10k.”  Celinea adds “maybe, ya.  I think so.”

(Celinea, right, and buddy Kate complete first 5k road race.  No doubt a rematch is in the cards.)

With that, they allowed us to photograph them holding bouquets of flowers given by family members in recognition of their hard-earned achievement.

One hundred and ninety-one youngsters registered for the Healthy Kids Marathon, in which the kids are encouraged to walk, job or run a distance of 41 kilometres through the month of May.  The final 1.2 kilometres was completed Sunday with three laps of the Masich Place Stadium.

                                          (CGW chair Anthony Everett and games mascot, Nanguz)

And the day was capped off as they, and the rest of the world, got to meet for the very first time, the mascot of the 2015 Canada Winter Games, a foxy little critter named Nanguz.  We all learned the correct pronounciation as well.  It is Nanguz, as in guzzle, and not nangooz!  More on the furry mascot in a bit.