Photo Karen Graham.
Coach Darl Sutherland, in the red shirt, has attracted more than 50 members to this club, thanks to his dedication and expertise he enthusiastically shares with young athletes.
It doesn’t take long for word to spread about a fabulous facility like our Cavan Monaghan Community Centre. On December 9th, a local running club began to use the indoor running track as its winter home base for training, bringing talented young athletes from around the area together to train, challenge and inspire each other as they develop their running skills from a talented coach and runner, Darl Sutherland.
A full-time Special Education teacher at IE Weldon in Lindsay, Sutherland also coached and competed at Fleming College for many years. He believes in helping young athletes achieve their potential. Recently requests for mentoring from young runners inspired him to leave his coaching responsibilities at Fleming to launch his own club and focus on the many talented young local athletes. Sutherland formed the Kawartha Lakes Lightning Running Club in the fall of 2018 to meet the needs of competitive young runners.
The club began with only a handful of very successful members, some with provincial championship titles. As of last January, the club had 20 members, but in the last few weeks the membership bounced up above 50 elementary and high school student runners. The club has grown organically through word of mouth due in no small part to the success of the young club members.
Photo Karen Graham
At the club’s first training practice at the CMCC, six new runners arrived to meet their coach for the first time. Members come from Courtice, Bancroft, Fenelon Falls and Norwood, so Millbrook is well-placed geographically, but the real appeal of the area is the facility. Whether they are running forwards, backwards or bouncing sideways, the runners demonstrate focus and perseverance as they urge each other to try harder. During warmer months the club practises at St. Peter’s Catholic Secondary School in Peterborough, but has been travelling to Oshawa for off-season training.
Sutherland is not only an acclaimed coach but a nationally-ranked distance runner himself. His training offers technical expertise in addition to building the overall health of his club members, bringing in nutritional and other expertise to help his athletes excel. This summer, he secured the spot as the coach of Team Ontario, whose girl team took home first place overall in the Canadian Cross Country Championship held in B.C. in November.
The group program is designed to help runners improve their speed, at all levels, but this club attracts competitive athletes who come ready to run! The club is considering establishing an adult section in 2020 and grooming one of the more seasoned runners to take on some of the coaching responsibilities.
While running is a relatively inexpensive sport, the club is seeking sponsors to help offset the costs of participating in competitions where travel is required.
They hope to host a local run in the township to encourage participation in this inexpensive, accessible sport to the community that has helped them build their skills in their facility. To learn more about the club, visit their website at www.kawarthalakeslighting.com. KG
