Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Adam Donnelly

23RD ANNUAL BOOGIE THE BRIDGE

Get ready, Kamloops! Boogie the Bridge training has begun

Mar 8, 2020 | 2:15 PM

KAMLOOPS — There’s a sure sign spring is just around a corner in Kamloops: RunClub’s Boogie the Bridge training clinic kicked off Sunday morning, as over 100 eager runners of all abilities met at the Sandman Signature Hotel.

“People conquered the time change and made it out,” Boogie the Bridge and RunClub founder Jo Berry exclaimed. “It’s year twenty-three, we’re eight weeks out from Boogie and all these wonderful people came out to move their bodies for health and happiness. It’s a wonderful turnout.”

If you’ve been to one Boogie Training clinic, you know how it goes. Jo stands at the front, with a seemingly endless supply of energy and positivity trying to get several dozen bleary-eyed runners fired up about another year of training. Usually, by the time they head out on the trail, she’s succeeded.

“I was never a morning person. It’s always tough to get out of bed on a Sunday morning when the thing you want to do is stay in be until 11” RunClub’er Max Patel told CFJC Today. “But people are so welcoming here, they appreciate you being here, they motivate you. They really like newcomers, so they make sure you’re not the one left out.”

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Community is certainly one of the overarching themes that RunClub and Boogie the Bridge stand for. If you’ve ever met Jo or heard her speak at Boogie, you’ve probably heard the others:

“[Boogie] is about community health, which is getting our community moving and changing the landscape od our community health-wise,” Berry explained. “It’s also about community contribution. [Boogie the Bridge] has raised over $1 million dollars for charity.”

Image Credit: CFJC Today

Martin Tong knows all about the transformative power training for Boogie the Bridge can have. He began his journey with RunClub a year ago, at the same training clinic. Since then, he’s lost over 60lbs and says his life has completely changed for the better.

“It’s touched every part of my life: spiritually, emotionally, physically,” Tong told CFJC Today. “It’s lifted me out of a hole I was in.”

“The guy looks 20 years younger!” Berry said about Tong’s transformation. “He’s just shining, by embracing movement in his life, and everything that goes along with it. It’s just awesome to see Martin a year later and doing so well.”

RunClub’s Boogie the Bridge training clinic runs twice a week: Sunday mornings and Tuesday evenings. If you’re hesitating, because you feel like you’re not cut out to a be a runner, Martin Tong has a message for you.

“It’s never too late to start,” Tong said. “Like Jo preaches, movement is change. The change has been transformingly (sic) good, all around.”