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a 18 stouffville suntribune thursday dec 22 2005 stouffville suntribune thompson proves youre never too old to start ballantrae resident 67 began marathon running last year by mike hayakawa staff writer when helen thompson went searching for walking shoes in may 2004 at the running room store in markham she ended up buying more than expected the 67yearold whitchurch- stouffville and former longtime markham resident also made a longterm investment in her physi cal and mental well being she signed up for a learntorun clinic offered by the store to this day she has no regrets in making that decision not only has she been able to maintain a healthy lifestyle since retiring as a nurse with york region health services seniors programs in newmarket in 2002 thompson also found time to take to the streets in some running events making her racing debut in 2004 in which she ran in three events thompson increased her participa tion to six this year among those was her firstever full marathon the scotiabank waterfront marathon in late sep tember in toronto staff photosjoerd witteveen bauantrae resident helen thompson 67 took up long distance running just last year as a means of maintaining a high degree of physical well being this past year she took part in her first marathon in toronto while happy to complete the 262mile course in 5 12 hours thompson was even more satisfied to have raised close to 1000 in pledges for a worthy charitable cause the rose of sharon services for young mothers in york region what got me through doing that marathon were the people who made pledges for me she recalled that was the real motivator thompson also entered the angus glen half marathon in november and finished fourth overall in the 60 years of age and older division after completing the course in a personal best time of 214 running for me is an invest ment in health for a fantastic well- being she said its changed my lifestyle in which im healthier my weight has dropped and my blood pressure and cholesterol levels have improved and i also love the chal lenge im always trying to better my previous time in crediting the success shes attained in a relatively short time frame thompson said there isnt one particular individual who has been influential but rather many including her family which includes husband alan who describes himself as his wifes waterboy as well her three sons kevin jason and ian who has ran along side her in a couple of events have offered plenty of moral support thompson also has another family that she has high praise for in the group she runs with from the running room under coach ray lim everyone is supportive right from the staff and runners and the camaraderie is fantastic she said thompson said the end of each class places some expectations for beginners its to run a 5k event after that she progressed up the chain to run a 10k half marathon and eventually a full marathon the level of progression gets more intense because your goals are higher she cited when thompson isnt running she finds the time to encourage others to convert to a healthier lifestyle shes done so by being a motivational speaker at the run ning rooms clinics running for me is an investment in health for a fantastic wellbeing helen thompson marathon runner marcia guthenberg a markham resident who teaches the beginners clinic says thompson serves as a positive role model to others who are near her age shes quite inspirational guthenberg theres a variety of runners in my class some women who are in their 40s or 50s who are learning to run helens idea to pro mote that women her age that can still do things like running and not having to be a great athlete and to do it for 20 to 30 minutes is great looking ahead to 2006 thomp son has no intentions of slowing down one of her biggest goals is to run the ottawa marathon in may i just want to keep on running she said spirit extends streak to nine spartan junior cagers hoop it up on the road last week saturday won 71 at oshawa coming up friday dec 23 at collingwood 8 pm7hursday jan 5 vs huntsville muskoka otters 730 pm at stouffville arena game notes the spirit continued its torrid play of late by extending its unbeaten streak to nine games saturday with a 71 road victory over the oshawa legionaires rick schrank deposited two goals and rob groom added a goal and two assists to pace the spirit offence donivan munro will acton james mcintosh and ryan oliver also con tributed single tallies simon gys- bers assisted on three goals goal keeper mark kubicz earned the win but was ejected following a third- periodfight dan mcwhinney replaced him for the final 1557 the victory by the spirit moved them into second place in the north conference of the provincial junior a hockey league they trail the firstplace auroratigers by nine points but have three games in hand insider the skate with the spirit event in support of the whitchurch- stouffville foodbank goes jan 2 at the stouffville arena generally speaking we dont have the same talent in stouf fville but we work a lot harder were quick and we have gelled together nicely hard work can make up for a lot of things said dustin howard an 18yearold spirit defencerhan in comparing his time this year in stouffville after playing last season with the georgetown raiders club that won the central canada junior a hockey title and played in the royal bank cup canadian championships record 19563 for more on the spirit log on to wwwstouftvillespirilcom defending tier two champs undefeated in six games this season by mike hayakawa staff writer just call the stouffville district sec ondary school spartans junior boys basketball team the road warriors with their own gymnasium floor undergoing repairs due to flooding dec 3 the spartanshave been forced to play all contests on the road until further notice to date they havent let that adversi ty stand in their way playing five of their first six york region athletic association tier two games on the road the spartans remain undefeated and sit atop the standings the guys enjoy the challenge said spartans head coach jeff fong our gym is old and the guys like playing in die newer ones he added half jokingly as much as the team enjoys playing in newer venues while tackling a chal lenge fong noted their success stems primarily from possessing good talent while the team isnt blessed with a player taller than six feet they do have some highly skilled players three of them returned from last years yraa tier two championship club in justin balik adam prokop and john reesor but the biggest plus fong said has been the presence of firstyear point guard johnny balik hes a phenomenal player fong said of the grade 9 student and younger brother of justin top athlete i saw him play some mumba markham unionville minor basket ball association games last year and i knew he would be a good one hes one of the best athletes that the school has ever had i knew that he would fit in perfectly the most recent triumph for die spartans came monday when they defeated richmond green secondary school richmond hill 3533 justin balik paced the spartans with 10 points prior to mondays win the spartans played three road contests last week in as many days and prevailed in each against markville secondary school 5440 sutton district high school 56- 39 and huron heights secondary school 5528 justin balik led the way against markville with 28 points including six three pointers johnny balik poured in 17 for the spartans against sutton justin had a gamehigh 20 in the win over huron heights hockey girls ice two victories the spartans girls hockey team ran its york region athletic association unbeaten streak to seven games mon day after blanking host aurora high school 30 kate devine ashley mclellan and karli zeigler scored for the spartans now 403 on the season and occu pants of second place behind sacred heart catholic high school newmar ket who are 601 shutouts for knox liz knox posted the shutout last thursday the spartans received a twogoal effort from hayley hughes and a solid netminding effort from knox in a 40 road win over die cardinal carter catholic high school celtics aurora lauren barber and ashley mclellan each added single tallies van allen leads hockey boys over unionville school the spartan senior boys hockey team won its fourth game of the season after defeating the st augustine catholic high school titans unionville 72 tuesday at angus glen community centre scott van allen scored twice for the spartans now 411 landon wideman luke bartell drew beal dennis oshaunessy and jamie wise added singles for more on high school sports log on to wwwyraacom tmommmwrnm