Fall Cross Country Season

A note from coaches Steve Weiler and Leslie Sexton

We are disappointed to hear the KASSAA announcement that there will be no inter-school athletics this fall season. We were very much looking forward to returning as community coaches to help local teachers provide some form of 2020 school cross country season.

This has been a tough year for all of us, one in which we need to take stock of the positives. Thanks to the great work of KFL&A Public Health and buy-in from the community, the Kingston area has fared relatively well so far during this pandemic. As runners, we are fortunate to participate in a fairly low-risk activity that commonly takes place at spacious outdoor locations and, being in the Kingston area, we have some beautiful training locations to choose from.

Our sport – governed nationally by Athletics Canada – has been open all summer, at first just for training purposes and now with thorough return to competition guidelines that will see the Athletics Ontario Cross Country Championships take place right here in Kingston this November.

Following the return to training guidelines, coaches Steve Weiler and Leslie Sexton led a successful summer season for local distance runners, culminating in a series of intrasquad time trials. The feedback from both athletes and parents was extremely positive; this was a useful learning experience that has set us up to continue safely enjoying our sport this fall.

Weiler and Sexton will continue hosting workouts this fall for runners as young as grade 7 through to masters (40+) athletes. There are modest membership fees; financial aid is available and no interested athlete will ever be turned away for financial reasons. In terms of competition, our group will participate in a combination of intrasquad and intersquad time trial workouts as well as formal races as available, peaking for the Athletics Ontario Cross Country Championships in November.

For more information about the Junior (<20) and adult (20+) running programs, please visit our website and contact us directly:

Steve Weiler – steveweiler@hotmail.com
Leslie Sexton – leslie.sexton@gmail.com