April 12, 2011 (Whitehorse, YT) – The Racing Rocks Whitehorse School Challenge on March 30 was a great success this year! We had 145 students participating between grades 4 and 7 (2001-1998) from eight different schools in the city.

There were over 35 volunteers to pull off such a incredible day and their enthusiasm was spread to all the participants. It was a sunny warm day and there was a lot of laughter and fun in the sun!

After the buses arrived there was a short introduction and orientation for the day. The students were pre-assigned to teams defined by bib colours. Each team had a leader who distributed the CCC tshirts (which received many glowing complements). There were 12 different stations set up around the stadium including terrain park relays, obstacle courses, hockey, lacrosse, scooter baseball, slalom, tug-of-war, parachute, downhill races, berm tricks, para-nordic sit ski and a skills relay. Each station had a leader to model and explain the game or activity. There was music playing throughout the morning, announcing for the relays, snacks served at half time and local media present interviewing kids / taking pictures.

At noon the students skied up to the chalet for a gourmet lunch put on by some excellent volunteers and a slide show of the morning activities. We then had a local elite athlete engage the students in a talk about active living, goal setting and the importance of healthy choices and being involved with sport. He was a very captivating and motivating speaker for all ages.

The afternoon was filled with sprint races (“The Mad Dash”) in the stadium. The races were professionally set up and we had members of the Yukon Ski Team, as well as members from the National Ski Team model the different distances and demonstrate the spirit of racing to the elementary age students. It was a lot of fun and awards were presented immediately afterwards.

The day ended much too quickly with sun burnt smiling faces on the exhausted students. The success of the event directly corresponded to the great sponsorship by Cross Country Canada (the t-shirts were a big hit!), Cross Country Yukon’s support and the amazing committed volunteers from the Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club. Thank you to all for yet another successful Racing Rocks School Challenge event!