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INUVIK
As warm weather and sunshine starts to draw more and more people outside, the Inuvik Run Club is hoping to draw out runners who shelved their shoes for the winter, or kept their activities indoors.

Members of the Inuvik Run Club enjoy a break atop Old Baldy last September. Numbers have dropped off for the run club since the fall, but hope to pick back up as the weather warms up. Back row, from left, are Dustin Parson, Jennifer Sutherland, Alice Graham, Soura Rosen, Robin Baron, Roy Clarke, Cynthia Wicks, Grant Sullivan, and Marcella Abrams. Front row, from left, are Sherry Rooth and Anick Jenks. - photo courtesy of the Inuvik Run Club

The club is currently gearing up for this summer's Midnight Sun Fun Run, scheduled for Saturday, June 23. Runners interested in this annual event have three different distances to chose from: five kilometres, 10 km, or a half-marathon. As in the past, the run is scheduled on the closest Saturday to the summer solstice, with runners taking their mark at midnight.

A group of about half a dozen runners kept at it all through the winter – an experience she said is like no other, but isn't for the faint of heart.

"It's been a great experience to run in the winter up here. It's kind of crazy," said Jennifer Sutherland, who has been running with the club for almost a year. "It's not as bad as you'd think, that's the weird thing about it, but there were definitely a couple of times I thought my head might explode."

Sutherland recently registered for her first full-length marathon in Honolulu for next December.

"The run club sort of inspired that," said Sutherland. "If you can run in the winter, jeepers, you can do anything."

The Inuvik Run Club meets twice a week – Wednesdays at 6 p.m. and Saturdays at 11 a.m. – in front of the Midnight Sun Complex. The distances and paths covered by the group varies. Lately, the group of diehards who survived the winter running season have taken to running half-marathons on Saturdays and shorter runs on Wednesdays, but Wicks stresses that runners of any level are welcome to join.

"The sport of running, I find, can be very intimidating for people," said Wicks. "It's hard to start."

For those interested in getting into the sport for the first time – or who may have been on hiatus and are looking to get back into it – Wicks, who started the club after moving to Inuvik about two years ago, will provide information and running programs.

"Anyone can come out at any time and start running," said Wicks. "You're never going to be out there alone."

The run club can act as a motivational tool to get out and start a run, said Sutherland. What happens after that is up to each individual runner.

"Even if you run at your own pace and you're not together the whole time, you still get there," she said. "It gets you out the door."

For Wicks, the beauty of running, especially in a group, is that most of the battle is won by just showing up.

"The hardest part is showing up, just like anything," said Wicks. "We have a lot of fun – we're out there, we cover a lot of ground. It's a healthy, fun thing to be involved with – and it's free."

Wicks said she loves to run not only for the physical benefits, but the mental as well. Running, she said, is her psychologist.

"Every single run I've done – and I've been running for 10 years – has been a challenge," said Wicks. "I've always felt awesome after."

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