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Club honours athlete with meet

Breakers to host regional tournament at Timberlane

A living local track legend is being honoured by having an upcoming regional meet named after him.

“Harry Thompson is an asset to the community and a great role model,” said Powell River Breakers Track and Field Club president Alan Hernandez. “We thought it would be a great idea to name the meet after him.”

Thompson is a record-shattering 90-year-old sprinter who continues to participate in masters’ track meets, often competing by himself in races not having any other 90-year-olds to run against.

“I feel very honoured,” said Thompson. “I certainly wasn’t expecting it.”

The Harry Thompson Track Meet will be a regional event, organized by the Breakers, which will bring athletes from around Vancouver Island to Powell River.

It will be held over the weekend of June 22 and 23 at Timberlane Track.

Thompson will compete in a special 600-metre running event for nine- and 90-year-olds. “It should be kind of fun,” he said.

Thompson had a similar experience a few years ago when he ran with a group of 10-year-olds in Kamloops.

“They were really great,” he said. “At the end of the race they all waited for me to finish to shake my hand. They were all quite a bit faster than me, so that’s why I suggested maybe running against the nine-year-olds this time. It might be a race.”

Track meet organizers are looking at the meet as a way to rejuvenate the club and give its members a chance to compete against other regional athletes.

“We used to host zone meets here every year,” said Breakers’ secretary Silvana Hernandez. “In fact the meet here was a qualifier for the Summer Games, so it was always a big draw.”

As the old track at Gordon Park fell into disrepair, the Breakers’ executive became increasingly hesitant about hosting track meets. “It’s a feat to cross the waters to come to our meets,” said Silvana.

With the new track at Timberlane and new families in the club, the time seemed right to try to host another meet, she said.

It takes a whole community’s involvement to make things like this run, and that’s the best part, she said.

The track club is looking for volunteers to help out with some of the “zillion little jobs that it takes to make something like this go.” Silvana said that they are looking for volunteers to do announcing, timing and setting up hurdles among other things.

“It feels like we’re doing this from scratch,” she added. “But it’s coming together really well.”

Events will start on Saturday at 12:30 pm and run until 7 pm. On Sunday events will begin at 9 am and run through to 2:30 pm. Thompson’s special race will happen at 1:30  pm on Saturday, June 22.

For more information about volunteering or participating in the meet, readers can contact Alan at alanhern@telus.net.