February began in Hawkesbury with the Roadrunners Athletics Club`s Second Annual Winter Classic.

The Saturday event saw more than 130 young athletes, ages five to 12, from Hawkesbury`s own athletics club and other athletics clubs from the Prescott-Russell, Ottawa and Montréal regions crowd into the main gymnasium/auditorium at the Robert Hartley Sports Complex to run, jump, and enjoy other indoor track and field events as they dared any animal weather prophets to come out of their holes on Ground Hog`s Day Sunday and say how long winter would last.

“Wonderful atmosphere,” said Jason Lacombe, president and coach with the Roadrunners Athletics Club d’athlétisme Les Roadrunners.

Lacombe and more than three dozen volunteers kept busy manning the coaching stations, referee posts, and doing all the behind-the-scenes work so that every child in the auditorium could focus on having fun with fitness.

The current Roadrunners Club had its official launch in 2022 and is one of many rural and urban athletics clubs with the goal of introduce children and youth to the basics of track and field events while also promoting fun and fitness along with a healthy lifestyle.

Information on the club, upcoming events for members, and how to join are available at the club`s website, athletismehawkesbury.ca, or at the club`s Facebook page under the name Club d’athlétisme Les Roadrunners.