The West Vancouver Track & Field Club is offering a new eight-week Intro to Track & Field program for seniors and adults 35+.
"We were looking at the population of West Vancouver specifically and the North Shore overall and there's a pretty high number of seniors, folks that are getting into their twilight years, and so we were looking for a way to provide a program that could give them an opportunity to do track and field," says Marcus Wong, a member of the club's board of directors. A further motivation was continued comments from community members who expressed interest in doing track and field, though no program to serve their needs existed. "That's where this program came about," he says.
Launching Wednesday, June 4, sessions will be held weekly from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the West Vancouver secondary community track. Participants will have an opportunity to try a variety of track and field disciplines - running, jumping and throwing included.
The program will be led by the club's head coach, Eugene Konart, nationally certified and a 1972 Olympic silver medallist. Also on hand will be club members and accomplished local masters track and field athletes, including multiple world record holder Christa Bortignon, who took up the sport in 2009. Bortignon now competes internationally in sprints, jumps, hurdles and multi events in the women's 75-79 age category and hopes to earn her 300th medal this year.
"The program is going to take place in a very safe and technical environment in the sense that there will be a coach giving very good instruction. It's all about participation, inclusiveness and really maintaining healthy living. Certainly with an aging population on the North Shore, track and field is a great way to maintain and improve your physical health in terms of mobility, flexibility and just overall well-being," says Wong.
The free program was made possible with support from the West Vancouver Community Foundation. Interested participants are asked to register by phone at 604-358-4550 or by visiting westvantrack.com.
