HAPPY VALLEY-GOOSE BAY, N.L.
Chase Blake of Cartwright surprised many on Oct. 7 when he came in third overall in the Trapline Marathon’s five kilometre event.
The eight-year-old was clocked at a remarkable time of under 25 minutes.
A Grade Three student at Henry Gordon Academy, Chase started cross-country running early into the school year. His age group trained for a one kilometre run.
“Chase did the one kilometre in four minutes and six seconds,” his mother Nikki Brown-Dyson said of the cross-country event that took place in Cartwright earlier in October.
While Chase practiced for the 1km run with his school friends, she said, he’d often keep running during training. It wasn’t unusual for him to run over 5km, she said.
“He just has this energy to keep going and going,” Brown-Dyson said during a recent phone interview.
Knowing that her son had a keen interest in running, Brown-Dyson registered Chase for the Trapline Marathon’s 3km event which took place in Happy Valley-Goose Bay the day before the 5km run.
Well ahead of the other runners, Chase missed the turn-around mark during his 3km run when spotters didn’t realize he had kept on going.
While Chase was upset, Brown-Dyson said, he did eventually finish the race and, because of what had happened, was given an opportunity to run the 5km the next day.
“We were pretty excited about that,” Brown-Dyson said.
Chase’s mother was also elated with her son’s amazing finish in the 5km.
He was the second youngest runner in the race, she said.
“The 19-and-under group (of runners) and the adults ran at the same time. Chase came third overall. His time was 24 minutes and 54 seconds,” his mother said.
Chase was tired but excited at the end of the race, Brown-Dyson said.
When asked over the phone about running, Chase said he felt good during his 5km run.
He felt tired, he said, but kept running.
“It makes me feel good,” he said about long distance running.
Chase said he was happy to see so many people he knew at the finish line.
“My gym teacher, my Mom and Dad, my baby sister,” he said of those on the sidelines cheering him on.
Chase’s gym teacher, Michael Scott, won the Trapline’s 10-km race.
Brown-Dyson said she appreciated all the people who turned out to cheer on Chase and all the other runners.
“We had family there and a lot of people from Cartwright there and a lot of people that used to live in Cartwright,” she said.
Brown-Dyson said Chase is already talking about next year’s Trapline.
“He wants to keep at it and he’s got me coaxed into running (in the Trapline) with him next year,” she said.
