On Thursday, October 11, 2012 McKim Middle School hosted their second annual Cross-Country run meet. This health, fitness and participation event takes place at the Kimberley Nordic Trails and involves a two-km loop for the grades 4 and 5 students and a challenging three-km hilly route for the grades 6-8. 71 runners from five different schools participated in the Points Challenge vying for the winner's trophy awarded to the school with the most points.
Every athlete who crosses the finish line is awarded one point and extra points are earned by placing in the top five finishers of each grade & gender.
Last year, Cranbrook's T.M. Roberts School took home the trophy winning handily against their tough competition. This year, T.M. Roberts - with a point total of 68 - was edged out by local McKim students who battled hard to earn 77 points. Laurie Middle School, racing with some of their grade 7 and 8 students, had a point total of 20, Amy Woodlands followed with 11 and the Kimberley Independent School had 5. The McKim coaching team of Cherie Cooper, Kim Miller and Carson Loftsgard want to pass a big thank-you to all the parents who volunteered at the races and in particular to Charlie Cooper who marked the course, Frank Ackerman in charge of timing and Jacqui van Zyl who coordinated the points and school results.
A very special thanks to Kimberley's Overwaitea Foods who kindly donated the finish-line snacks for all the participants and volunteers. McKim is happy to donate their event proceeds - a total of $92 - to the Kimberley Nordic Club as an acknowledgement for the fantastic job they do maintaining all the Nordic trails and for the use of their wonderful lodge.