Each year at the Beaver Flat 50 trail race, brothers and organizers Warren and Jeff Dudar are blown away by how many youth participate — and excel — at distances ranging from the 5- to 20 kilometres. It’s not an experience they had when they were younger.
“We were both in our early 30s when we were introduced to the sport,” Warren says. “Now we see the kids running our races and we’re like: Oh, man, I wish I had known about trail running when I was in high school or even the early days of university.”
The brothers, who operate Prairie Sky Running Company, are hoping to create more opportunities for the under-20 crowd to trail run at a high level through the Junior Harriers Development Program, which they launched last year in partnership with Prairie Run Crew and Saskatchewan Athletics. In these early days, the program is fundraising to provide $2,000 bursaries for teens from Saskatchewan aged 16 to 19 to travel and compete as a team at the Canadian Mountain Running Championships in Monte Saint Anne, Que. in October.
The incentive will hopefully inspire young athletes who excel in track, cross-country running and cross-country skiing to give trail running a try earlier in life than they would have otherwise, the Dudars say. And those teens can then inspire other young people to give the sport a try.
Three teens have already qualified for the bursary by running the qualifying standard at the 2024 Beaver Flat 50 10-km event. The top two male and female youth athletes at the 2025 race in September will also be eligible for selection if they meet the time standards (59 minutes, 30 seconds for men; one hour, three minutes, 30 seconds for women).
The Dudar brothers hope to eventually expand Junior Harriers to include in-person meetups and mentorship with masters athletes in the trail running community. Already, a dozen masters runners have reached out saying they are keen to be involved in working with youth who are part of the program. “Lots of masters runners talk about how they wish they had gotten into trail running sooner,” Jeff says. “This is an opportunity for them to show (youth athletes) that there’s life after track or cross country.”
Youth coaching is not presently part of Junior Harriers and the Dudars point out that most teens seeking to compete at the national mountain running championships are already coached in other sports.
“(The young athletes) have a lot of resources already in terms of coaching and a support system, so maybe this isn’t that,” Warren says. “We are finding other ways we can support them.”
Prairie Sky Running raised more than $3,500 for the Junior Harriers program last year, largely from participants at the Beaver Flat 50 race. They hope to raise at least $4,000 this year. Those interested in donating can do so online. Proceeds from swag sold at this year’s Beaver Flat 50 will also go toward the program.
“There’s a huge opportunity for this province to put runners out there that will compete with anyone else on the national stage,” Jeff says. “I think we’re going to destroy everyone at the national level … We’re competitive and I think we’re going to surprise a lot of people.”
To learn more about the three athletes who have already qualified for a Junior Harriers bursary, check out this video the Dudar brothers put together.
