Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Adam Donnelly

MOVEMENT IS CHANGE

Training underway for 27th Annual CFJC Boogie the Bridge

Mar 4, 2024 | 12:30 PM

KAMLOOPS — There’s no energy quite like Jo Berry’s energy on the first day of RunClub’s CFJC Boogie the Bridge training clinics.

“We want everyone to come out! Come out, come out!” Berry says. “There’s walking, there’s running, there’s strolling. There’s energy, there are 17 bands along the route. It’s a sea of red, a fantastic signature event.”

This year will be the 27th edition of the CFJC Boogie the Bridge. What began in 1998 with 62 participants has grown to include almost 2,700 participants last year. However, the values on which Boogie the Bridge was founded remain at its core.

“There’s a pace for everyone and there’s no hierarchy,” Berry explains. “You can walk, you can run. We have great elite runners who come out and support everyone. It’s the values — the red, the colour red is about love, passion, energy and change, and movement is change.”

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The RunClub Boogie the Bridge training gets underway eight weeks out from the annual event, which takes place at the end of April each year. Putting together an event like Boogie is a year-round effort and takes a ton of volunteer power.

“Thousands of hours,” Boogie the Bridge Society President Jenn Reumper says. “Those are the people on the ground, arranging every detail from the route right down to the medals we receive and the registration system. It’s all done by volunteers to cut down on costs.”

There are training groups for everyone, from powerwalkers on up to the serious half-marathoners. However, every year there is a strong contingent of first-timers who have joined RunClub for the first time.

“We love our first-time RunClubbers, we love our first-time Boogiers,” Reumper says. “Everyone is important, but there is nothing more energetic than watching people cross the finish line, particularly for the first time.”

Training takes place on Sunday mornings and Tuesday evenings, so if this is the first time you’ve heard about Boogie, there’s still time to join a training group.

“For one more week,” Berry says. “Our number two week starts next Sunday, March 10. Just send an email to info@RunClub.ca if you want to come.”

And don’t worry about your level of fitness or inexperience running. It’s like Jo and the RunClub coaches always say — the hardest thing about RunClub is getting there.