Anishinabek citizens cross the finish line at the Fire Fighter’s Ten Mile Road Race

By Rick Garrick

THUNDER BAY — Whitefish River’s Summer Lavallee ran the Fire Fighter’s Ten Mile Road Race on May 18 in Thunder Bay as a training run for an upcoming 100-mile race at the Kamview Nordic Centre in Thunder Bay.

“I’m training for a 100-mile race, so this is kind of built into my training plan, and I got to execute some of the things I’ve been working on,” Lavallee says. “It’s a 24-hour race in June.”

Lavallee, who finished with a time of 1:17:08.5, says the Fire Fighter’s Ten Mile Road Race was really good.

“I did better than I had anticipated,” Lavallee says. “The weather was a little bit rainy, but actually it was kind of nice being on the cooler side; I didn’t overheat.”

Lavallee says she enjoyed the race, noting there were a lot of spectators along the route, which began near Donald and Simpson Streets, ran along Simpson to Fort William Road to Water Street, to Marina Park and back again to the start.

“So it was good motivation to keep going when things got really hard,” Lavallee says.

Lavallee says running was something she had always wanted to do, but she put it off for many years until adulthood.

“Finally, I was like, you know what, I want to run a marathon, and I checked that off my bucket list,” Lavallee says. “I thought it was going to be one and done, and I realized that I actually got a lot more out of running than I could have ever imagined, so now, years later, I’m doing ultramarathons.”

Biinjitiwaabik Zaaging Anishinaabek’s Ryan Magbanua, who finished in 1:48:52.6, says he ran the race for his grandmother.

“She passed away two weeks ago,” Magbanua says, noting that he had always been a runner but stopped after the COVID-19 pandemic and then began running again this past January. “Near the finish line, I looked up, the clouds spread apart, the light was on me, and somehow, I knew the Creator was there and my grandma was there as well, watching me run and gave me the last endurance boost to finish it off.”

Magbanua says he ran on the treadmill during the winter months, but then he sprained his ankle about two weeks before the race.

“I’ve been recovering a bit, so this was actually my first time running 10 miles,” Magbanua says.

Namaygoosisagagun’s Natalie Paavola and her daughter Aungelle Wabigwan enjoyed running together during the race. Wabigwan finished in 1:53:43.6 and Paavola finished in 1:53:52.4.

“To run with my daughter today was amazing, I feel very proud of her,” Paavola says. “The run for myself was a bit challenging; I should have trained longer, but to get up and run 10 miles, I feel good about it.”

Paavola says running in a crowd is always inspiring for her.

“You feed off everyone else’s energy,” Paavola says. “It’s a really good feeling.”

Garden River’s Ralph Bekintis, who finished in 2:14:43.7, says he did really well during the race.

“My job was to make it, I’m 73, and I’m just trying to encourage the kids here,” Bekintis says. “We’ve been coming out for the last 15 years for this 10-mile (race).”

Bekintis, a principal who has taught in Sandy Lake since 1984, says they brought 16 students from the remote fly-in Nishnawbe Aski Nation community for the race.

“I’ve had runners for 15 years and they’re usually the top in other sports,” Bekintis says.

Information about the race, including the race results, is posted online.