As if making a New Year’s resolution wasn’t enough for us, many in the area are still focused on reaching their level of perfection training for various sports they have their sights set on for the upcoming remainder of the year.
For the most part we talk and promote various indoor sports so this issue we’re going to take you outside considering that the Vancouver Sun Run is Canada’s largest 10k kicked off April 21, 1985.
The event was created by former Canadian Olympians Dr. Doug and Diane Clement, along with Dr. Jack Taunton in hopes to promote active, healthy lifestyles and support elite amateur athletics.
Knowing that both Doug and Diane Clement and Dr. Taunton launched the race but also saw the start in the training program expanding its reach to the absolute beginner level and is currently the third largest timed 10k race in North America.
It should be known that the race was not originally designed or set up as a charity race, understanding that the Vancouver Sun Run has donated millions of dollars to local charities and literacy programs from its beginning.
The first or inaugural race drew only 3,200 participants that saw it grow to a record number of 59,179 registered runners in 2008 making it the largest 10k race at that time and over its four-decade history it is open to everyone from elite Olympic qualifiers to strollers and walkers.
The inaugural first run started on the Granville Street Bridge running around or circled the nearly completed Expo ’86 site.
Since then the course given the changes sees the runners pass through downtown Vancouver, past Stanley Park, over the Burrard and Cambie bridges wrapping up at BC Place Stadium.
Its openness to several Delta runners who belong to the track and field in North Delta has seen a growth over the last 25 years following the opening in 2021 of the North Delta track located at the North Delta Secondary School.
It should be known that the City of Delta held a “series of open houses to the public” at the North Delta Secondary School with lots of dialogue allowing the public to offer their input which since then saw various changes to the initial plan.
Since then the area has seen a strong mix of school athletics, community clubs, and high-performance training opportunities enticing all ethnic communities in the area as well as those from other parts of the lower mainland.
It’s noted that while this is the Main Track Club in North Delta it attracts other Universal Athletics Club noting that this is known as the competitive track and field club connected to North Delta which was founded in 2000.
It is open to not just the public but also registered with BC Athletics that clearly has its focus on youth development, competitive athletics, and community participation plus offering various programs in sprinting, distance running, jumps, throws, and multi-event training
Located in the area it is known and understood that the club trains (mainly) at the North Delta Track & Field Facility as well as Bear Creek Park Track in Surrey
The club offers school based track programs playing a major role in developing various athletes understanding that the North Delta Secondary School has supported several competitive school track and field programs with one of the top facilities located in Delta.
Since my time in Delta dating back to the 70ties it has long been a contentious issue in the area forcing various athletes to force their attention to train at other locations of the lower mainland such as Burnaby, Richmond and UBC.
The North Delta Track & Field Facility officially opened in August 2021 costing about $8 million which had to be built to World Athletics standards which was the first ever World Athletics-compliant track in Delta
The facility was built to include 8 competitive lanes, a grass infield, a walking path, spectator seating plus training and conditioning areas which prior to 2021 forced several North Delta athletes train at older school tracks to utilize far better facilities.
Training schedules are known to periodically change by the season, but most or some of North Delta-area clubs typically train Monday to Thursday evenings while some clubs add a Saturday morning session.
Some of the youth development programs (usually) run 2 days per week and if you’re an extremely competitive athlete(s) may train 4–6 days weekly while the Universal Athletics Club currently notes that the younger “Rascals” athletes train about twice weekly running from May through July.
It should be known that several North Delta and Delta athletes have advanced their careers to Provincial, National, NCAA plus International competition levels through BC Athletics pathways.
While there is a limited publicly available list which is no different from other sports in the area there is a documentation listing every world-level athlete specifically from North Delta clubs, athletes from Delta-area programs have advanced.
They include BC provincial championships, Canadian national championships, U SPORTS university competition, NCAA scholarships in the United States plus various International competition through Athletics Canada development systems.
It’s known that some athletes currently associated with Delta and the nearby Surrey clubs have competed internationally in sprinting, middle distance, hurdles, throws plus race walking, understanding that the North Delta facility is expected to increase the number of elite athletes as athletes no longer need to leave Delta for high-quality training.
There are however several reasons or factors that have helped track and field grow in Delta mainly due to the following reasons such as population growth in North Delta and Surrey,strong school athletics programs, BC Athletics development programs,new modern track facilities, community clubs such as Universal Athletics Club plus an increased youth sports participation after 2000.
