Inuvik (Dec 17/04) - Each Tuesday and Thursday after class, the hallways of Samuel Hearne secondary school echo with the pounding of running shoes.

It's the sound of running club members doing laps of the upstairs and ground floor, trying to shave seconds off their best times.

According to running club coach Jason King, six circuits of the school is equivalent to a mile. As the runners pass King and his stopwatch, he yells out their lap times and encourages them to keep up the pace.

Tuesday afternoons members run a mile and on Thursdays they work on endurance training, which is 20 minutes of non-stop running.

"It's really motivating," said King, adding that running helps inspire participants to keep on doing better. "Every week (the members) see themselves improving."

The club, which began in January, yielded great results for the school at last year's territorial track and field meet.

As well, the overall fitness benefits of running has other coaches in the school encouraging their athletes to participate in the club.

For Kenzie MacDonald, running has improved his performance on the hockey rink and the volleyball court.

"I notice it in little bits at a time," he said. "It's definitely improved my endurance."

Perhaps one of the school's best runners, Noel Cockney has similar reasons for running.

"I play a lot of sports, so it's good conditioning."

Cockney's best time around the Samuel Hearne mile is 5 minutes 31 seconds. His speed and consecutive best-overall times have certainly inspired his running buddies.

When asked about their goal for this season's running club, almost in unison the members replied, "Catch Noel!"

Good luck.