by Bea Peterson
On Friday, June 1, fifth and sixth grade students at HFCS had an opportunity to ask questions of elite runner Lisa Harvey of Vancouver, British Columbia. She spoke with them in the high school auditorium. Harvey was in the area for the 34th Annual Freihofer’s Run for Women last Saturday, June 2. She was part of the Freihofer “Elite Athlete Visitation Program.” [private]The initiative was started in 1993 to provide local youngsters with an opportunity to meet invited athletes and hear from them about their training schedules, world travel, trips to the Olympic games and healthy eating habits. Over the two day period, 13 elite runners visited 17 Capital Region schools and spoke to more than 5,000 Capital Region children.
Lisa Harvey is 42. She has an impressive running career. She has run a 5k in 15:51 and a 10k in 33:07. She was the 2000 Canadian 10,000m National Champion, 1992 Canadian Olympian in the 10,000m, First Overall and First Master in the 2012 Ice Breaker 5 Mile, First Master in the 2011 Freihofer’s Run for Women 5k, Second Master in the 2010 Freihofer’s Run for Women 5k, Fourth in the 2010 Big Sur Marathon, First in the 2010 Provincial 5k Cross Country Championship, Fifth in the 2009 Canada Senior Cross Country Nationals, Fifth in the 2009 Canada National 10k Road Championships, Second in the 2009 ING Canada Half Marathon Championships, Second in the 2009 Scotiabank Half Marathon, Member of the Canada World Cross Country Team 2008, Member of the Canada Chiba Ekiden Relay Team 2008.
In answering questions from the students, Harvey told them she ran her first race in the sixth grade. She came in third and received a medal, which she still has. She ran cross country and track in junior high school. In high school she joined a track club, and five years later she made the Canadian Olympic team, and she ran the 10,000 meter event. She added that she didn’t do too well, partly due to the change in climate, “But I know I did my very best.”
Running competitively is a really cool way to see the world, she told her audience. She has run in Europe, Asia and South America. She does it, she said, because she is good at it. She has been running competitively for 26 years. “It’s exciting, I love it,” she said. She runs about 60 miles a week. She doesn’t wear an iPod® or anything like that. She said she prefers to hear the sounds of nature when she runs. Harvey used to run 80 miles a week. She doesn’t eat junk food. She drinks water and juice and maintains a low fat, balanced diet. “You feel good about yourself when you keep fit and eat healthy,” she said.
Sometimes she brings her children with her to races. When she does the 5k, they do the 1k. Her son is nine and her
daughter is 13 years old. When she finishes her running career she would like to be a trainer.
At the request of the students, Harvey concluded her program by sprinting across the stage.
The Freihofer’s Run for Women 5K is one of the world’s largest and most prestigious all-female road races. The 34th anniversary event featured 3,892 women of all ages and abilities who competed alongside many of the world’s greatest long distance champions. For the second year in a row, Ethiopia’s Mamitu Daska won the Freihofer’s Run clocking 15:19.1. Lisa Harvey’s time was 17:22.
[/private]