Thursday evening, after the Ungava and Hudson charters arrived, coaches and teams met in the gym to meet one another, receive important race information and the team shirts from new physical education ped. counselor, Nicolas Payette, who successfully coordinated the event in a few short months with some help from former ped. counselor and Tundra Trot creator, Allan Brown.  Fortunately, Nicolas was already very excited, experienced and committed to the event, having been involved since 2006, the pilot year, as coach of the Umiujaq running team.

After a wonderful breakfast and coaches’ meeting, the course and runners were prepared for the 6 KM relay race, which was held outside near the airport runway, despite chilly weather and the threat of snow. Dave Nguyen, secondary teacher in Kuujjuaraapik, was on location at all of the events taking pictures as well as coordinating the breakfast program and awards’ dinners, with the help of a team of students and staff. 

A one kilometer root was marked by Junior Rangers and teams lined up at the finish line by one o’clock to begin the race.  Due to the number of teams, schools competed in two heats, first Ungava coast teams then Hudson coast teams.  Positions were calculated based on age (Peewee category- 11- 12 years, Bantam category - 13-14 years and Midget category - 15-16 years) and gender, and then added together to make a team score.  The team with the lowest score received the first place banner and so on.

Quaqtaq’s coach, Xavier Beaupré and Kangiqsualujjuaq’s coach, Gillian Warner were happy to use the new spreadsheets developed by Peggy Large (Arctic Business Consulting) specifically for the event, which reduced result tabulation time in half from previous years and eliminated the possibility of mistakes.  Awards were presented Friday evening at the school gym after a delicious spaghetti dinner.


Banners for the 6 KM TEAM RELAY RACE were presented as follows:
•    First place went to Kangiqsualujjuaq team (21.5 pts.)
•    Second place went to Quaqtaq team (26 pts.)
•    Third place went to Kuujjuaq (38 pts.)
For the second year in a row, the Kangiqsualujjuaq team came in first with 21.5 points, Quaqtaq received the second place award with 26 points and Kuujjuaq, who had a complete team of 6 runners for the first time this year, was awarded the third place banner with 38 points.  Akulivik also had 38 points, but came in fourth after the Tundra Trot Guidelines were consulted and it was found that their highest placement was third and Kuujjuaq had a first place finisher.  The race ran very smoothly despite stray dogs trying to take part and a few snowflakes flying in the air at the end of the second heat. 

On Saturday morning, students slept in until 8 am, ate breakfast at 9 am and began preparations for the 3 KM races.  After a passionate prayer of encouragement and celebration for the success of their training, the girls went to the starting line.  The race began a little after 1 pm, with the 4 fastest runners finishing in under 15 minutes and the final runners crossing the line before the 20-minutes mark.  The boys began running shortly before 2 pm and amazed the finish line crew as three runners made it back before 13 minutes had passed, and most of the others finished in under 17 minutes.

The results from these races show that local training and preparation are really improving the health, ability and endurance of Nunavik’s student runners.  When compared to the first two years of the competition, the average time for girls or boys to finish the 3 KM route has decreased significantly.  For example, in 2007 the average time for girls was almost 20 minutes, and for boys it was about 17 minutes.  In 2008, on the very same course, the girls’ average time was a little over 17 minutes and the boys’ average was about 15 minutes. Those improvements apply also for the fastest time from last year. Sarah Samisack (Inukjuaq), won a first place in 2007 in the girls category with a time of 15:12. This year, Alice Esperon from Umiujaq ran the Girls 3 km race in 14:00.
Also, Daniel Roussel from Kuujjuaraapik completed the 3 km Boys’ course first, in a time of 12:23, held by Jamesie Cumberbatch (Inukjuak) with a time of 13:05.

On Saturday evening, awards were presented at Asimauttaq School after a generous buffet supper graciously sponsored by the Great Whale River Social Club. Unlike the first two years, almost every team had at least one runner, who won a medal, showing that next year every community really has the chance to take home one of the coveted team banners. 


Banners for the 3 KM TEAM RELAY RACE were presented as follows:
• GIRLS’ 1st place went to Kangiqsualujjuaq (9 pts.)
• GIRLS’ 2nd place went to Quaqtaq (9 pts.)
• GIRLS’ 3rd place went to Kangirsuk (14 pts.)
• BOYS’ 1st place went to Kuujjuaraapik (8 pts.)
• BOYS’ 2nd place went to Kuujjuaq (12 pts.)
• BOYS’ 3rd place went to Quaqtaq (13 pts.)

For the Girls’ category, Kangiqsualujjuaq improved their previous standing to first place with 9 points, which was decided after again consulting the Tundra Trot Official guidelines regarding a tie, since Quaqtaq’s girls also had 9 points, thus coming in second place.  Third place was awarded to Kangirsuk, who had 14 points.

In the Boys’ category, the hometown favourites, Kuujjuaraapik, proudly accepted the first place banner for their 8 points final score.  Kuujjuaq received the second place banner with 12 points and Quaqtaq took home third with 13 points. 

The evening was concluded with a discussion about ways to improve the event, the local training and the scoring system for future years to better address the inconsistency of the standings and times in larger categories.  Stay tuned for some possible exciting new changes to the event in 2009. 

After a busy and active weekend, students and coaches bid farewell to new friends, exchanged email addresses and boarded charters to travel home on Sunday. Many teams arrived home to the celebration and cheers of excited parents, teachers and teammates, and filled with a desire to start their training already for next year!

Congratulations to all of the runners who trained hard and represented their school so well at Tundra Trot 2008.  Special thanks to the volunteers who devoted many hours to ensure the success of TUNDRA TROT 2008: They included local animators Lucassie Alayco, Jean-François Dupéré, Xavier Beaupré, Dave Lane, Neil McGrath & Sayard Chartrand, Julia Knight, Louise Dumont, Julie Cadet, Caroline Thibault, Michel Allard, Dean Blachford, Gillian Warner, and the Asimauttaq School staff.

Running is an important healthy activity that can easily be implicated into every student’s life. The volunteers and students worked hard to show this, and we appreciate the teamwork they created to accomplish this project again this year.
Bravo!
This event was proudly supported by many organizations, including: 



GOLD SPONSORS

New Paths for Education, an initiative of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada administered by the Kativik School Board.
Kativik Regional Government Recreation Dept
Saputiit Youth Association of Nunavik

SILVER SPONSORS
Air Inuit Ltd.



BRONZE SPONSORS

NV Kuujjuaraapik and Recreation Dept. 



LOCAL CONTRIBUTORS

COOP Kuujjuaraapik FCNQ

NORTHERN STORE Kuujjuaraapik

GREAT WHALE RIVER SOCIAL CLUB

AIRPORT RESTAURANT

JUNIOR RANGERS Kuujjuaraapik 

ASIMAUTTAQ SCHOOL VOLUNTEERS

KATIVIK REGIONAL POLICE FORCE
KUUJJUARAAPIK VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT

Links: Race results and photo album