The inaugural Frosty 5-KM Walk/Run certainly lived up to its name on Saturday as a few dozen lakecity locals of all ages ran in subzero temperatures.
The run was organized by the Student Leadership class at LCSS Williams Lake Campus and their teacher, Caitlin Sabatino. At the event, Sabatino and her students accepted donations of both money and winter clothes with all proceeds going to the Cariboo Friendship Society. All told, they raised a big tub full of socks, mittens and toques and just over $300.
She said they had roughly 30 people show up for the run, some with their dogs, ranging in age from Kindergarten to high school students and adults that included LCSS Staff and community members.
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“We were really happy with the turnout today, we were a little bit worried when we woke up and saw that it was -18C in town but we’re really happy that many showed up (despite that),” Sabatino said.
Sabatino said the event was inspired, in part, due to the end of Quesnel’s Santa Shuffle Run that used to take place around this time of year. She also wanted to help organize an event her students could take a large part in organizing and planning easily while giving back to the community at large.
They held the event at the end of November because they wanted to remind people that the weather is colder now and that the more vulnerable members of the community will feel that just as keenly, if not more so, then the runners did on Saturday morning. Sabatino said she hoped that experiencing this cold would put things in perspective for people and make the lakecity consider those who don’t have somewhere warm to go.
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She said they planned for attendees to run a 5-km loop that began on the track of the LCSS Campus, went down Carson Drive, wove its way through downtown, up Second Avenue to Boundary then to Western and finally back down Carson to the school with Leadership Students posted at each turn to direct runners. However, Sabatino remarked ruefully that some ended up running closer to a “Frosty 6.5 km” when they were accidentally misguided at the corner of Second and Boundary when her students sent them up the hill towards Midnight Drive.
“There were about 20 runners who got to go do a little bit of a longer route but they were all really good sports about it when they got back to the school,” Sabatino chuckled.
“There were a lot of smiling, flushed faces at the end and they all enjoyed the hot chocolate and gingersnaps at the finish line,” Sabatino said.
Looking to next year, Sabatino said they will not be giving out a dozen medals like they did this year to those who competed but will instead be giving them Christmas tree ornaments. Otherwise, she said they’ll be doubling checking that all her students know the route they’re directing people down for sure to avoid any miscommunication.
Next year she hopes Mother nature will be a little bit kinder to them and that they’ll be able to see more people come out and take part in the run. Sabatino added that the Leadership Class has been asked to possibly organize a spring run in 2020 but said for now she’s just happy this event went as well as it did.
patrick.davies@wltribune.com
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