An athlete can do remarkable things with some guidance from a friend.
Visually-impaired Barbara Bielinksi, from Boston, won the women’s 60-plus 10km division of the Sheep River Race in Okotoks on Sept. 18 with Big Rock runner Don Lee by her side.
“I have a little bit of light and some motion depending (for vision) but for running I can’t see well enough,” Bielinksi said.
Bielinksi had travelled to Canada to cross-country ski at Watson Lodge in Canada with Ski for Light approximately two years ago. Lee, who is a volunteer with Ski For Light, was her guide.
They became friends and have been skiing and running together ever since.
“I started running because it was a great opportunity to get some vigorous exercise outdoors,” Bielinski said. “The fact there are people willing to take people running is just fantastic.”
Bielinksi has been in Canada for two weeks and her aim was to run in as many events as possible. With Lee being a member of the Big Rock Runners, who organized the run, the Sheep River Road Race was a natural fit.
Lee is an experienced runner and has to be fast on his feet. Bielinski turned in a respectable time of 57:100 over 10 km.
“He makes it all possible – he keeps me out of danger and makes me absolutely comfortable that I won’t fall or anything,” Bielinski said.
The pair were joined together by a small strand with Lee and Bielinski each holding one end. If there is an obstacle or something unexpected, he will grab her hand.
“Mostly, I am helping with turning corners, of if there is a ramp, down or up or if there is a bike coming,” Lee said. “A race like this it is easy, it’s a good course, well organized and marshals are where they need to be.”
He said the pair was running in Kingston with a recreational group where they had to deal with traffic lights and other obstacles.
There were no issues at the Sheep River Road Race.
“She was a little surprised when we hit the grass at the end, there is a ramp up,” Lee said. “My only surprise was when she pulled a banana out at the 7-kilometre water station.” .
Hitting the 10K mark
An Okotoks youth decided to stretch his legs and run a bit further at the Sheep River Road race.
“I usually run like 3K to 5K,” said Peter Wonderham, a Grade 10 student at Holy Trinity Academy. “I just felt like running 10km this time.
“It was okay, but when I crossed the bridge it was into the wind, and it was hard.”
Hard, but not defeating. He won the 15-19 boys division in a time of 46:51.
“I have never ran 10K before so I just wanted to go under 50 minutes,” Wonderham said. “
Wonderham is a member of the Okotoks Track and Cross-country Club, which is an organization for youths put on by the Big Rock Runners.
“They helped me to keep doing my best, keep pushing me hard,” Wonderham said.
He now has his sights set on the high school cross-country season, where he will run for the HTA Knights.
The 10km race was won by Callum Drever in a blistering time of 33:56..
“I have been wanting to run this race for a while, but I went to school in Halifax, I never had a chance to run it,” the 24 year-old Drever said.
Drever was second until about the 1Km mark.
“Another guy took it out pretty quick, so I sat back a bit,” Drever said. “At about the one-kilometre marker, I decided to pass him.”
He and the other approximately 175 runners had to battle a worthy opponent in Mother Nature.
“Coming back on the bridge on the far side there is about 600-800 metres into the wind – it was tough,” Drever said. “It was a nice course, I definitely want to come back next year.”
The 40-something Jeremy Neufeld of Okotoks was second at 39:08.
The fastest female runner was Gillian Petit at 47:07.
Chris White-Gloria of Calgary won the 5km at 17:59. Josh Heuver, a Foothills Comp student, was second, just nine seconds behind.
The top female runner was Cadence Laplante of Okotoks, at 20:58.
Race director Mark Toombs said he was delighted to have 175 runners, after not having the event in 2020 due to COVID.
“We had more in the 5K than the 10K but we had plenty in both,” Toombs said. “We had 15 kids in the 1K which was nice.”
To see the full results go to bigrockrunners.com and click on Sheep River Road Race.
