Sandy Lake runners compete in Canada Day Kakabeka 5K

Sandy Lake’s Jeffrey Kakegamic finished first among a group of Sandy Lake running club runners at the Canada Day Kakabeka 5K.
“It’s actually trail blazing — it goes on the road and then you’re going through the bushes,” said Racheal Anishinabie, a Thunder Bay-based runner originally from Sandy Lake who finished in 33:50:43. “It’s one of my favourite races because it goes through the bushes. It reminds me of home.”
Anishinabie said the four Sandy Lake running group runners did “really good” during the 5K, which was held July 1 at Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park.
Kakegamic finished the 5K in 22:35:38; Chad Linklater finished in 22:38:89; Larissa Fiddler finished in 30:43:43 and Claudette Linklater finished in 30:45:40.
“It’s a really good race to get into if you’re training for anything because the first thing you hit is a big hill,” Anishinabie said. “And then you run through the bush and a lot of muskeg area. So you’re just trail blazing through the bush and it’s a really good race.”
Anishinabie’s parents, Ralph and Areta Bekintis, also entered their three foster children, Rosie Quill, Janna Quill and Skye Fiddler, into the 1K Kids Race, which didn’t supply finishing times.
While the three children were already in Thunder Bay, Ralph, coach of the Sandy Lake running club, and Areta drove to Red Lake to pick up the four running group runners from the airport on June 30 so they could compete in the 5K.
“They ran the race and then they went to the (Mount McKay) Powwow,” Anishinabie said. “My parents didn’t sleep all night — they left at 11 o’clock that night, drove them to catch their flight in the morning (at Red Lake) and then my parents drove right back.”
Anishinabie said her father is a big advocate for providing youth an opportunity to participate in positive activities, such as the 5K.
“He knew about the 5K because I’ve been running it and he’s always driven me to Kakabeka Falls,” Anishinabie said.
Ralph’s efforts this past May resulted in five Sandy Lake running group long-distance runners competing in the Thunder Bay Ten Mile Road Race, where Kakegamic finished in seventh place among the under 20 runners with a time of one hour and 18 minutes.
Anishinabie began running when she was growing up in Sandy Lake and has been off and on with her running until 2007, when she got more serious.
She now runs five-kilometre, 10-kilometre and 15-kilometre runs every week along with half-marathon runs of 22 kilometres every second week during her training for the upcoming Thunder Bay Marathon.
“I enter about three or four races and one marathon (a year),” Anishinabie said. “It’s either the marathon in Winnipeg or the one here (in Thunder Bay).”