Close to 10,000 people will be filling the streets of Winnipeg on Sunday, June 16 as part of the Manitoba Marathon. Among those, will be Winnipeg's Steve Klassen and his ten-year-old son, Sam. 

This will be the second year in a row that the father-son duo is running the 5K. "We do a running club at my school and it was close to the end when they said we could sign up for the marathon with our class and classmates. I signed up and we were like, 'Where do we go? Where do we start? Where do we find our teachers?' And it turned out I was the only person who signed up. So one of my parents had to do it with me," Sam said.

As the 5K has become a tradition for the Klassen's, a highlight has been getting to train and run together. "It's fun for me to spend the day with my boy, and even though running is not my jam, it's lots of fun to do together," Steve says.

Steve knows how important sports are in his own life and wants his own kids to learn the skills that come with it too. "One of the great lessons of sports is perseverance, discipline, and training. There's a real camaraderie."

After the duo ran last year, they pondered about running the 10K. "We started training and realized very quickly that the 10K is not in our wheelhouse and it's a little much you're like, 'Okay, 5K, that's good,'" Steve says.

Getting to finish in the stadium, surrounded by so many other people made the run easier for them. "I think we were surprised how much gas we still had left in the tank at the end.  It was a lot easier to run it when we were surrounded by other runners doing it. It was exhilarating. Not often do you find yourself field level at the stadium, so that was cool, surrounded by all the Blue Bomber stuff and the signage and all the cameras and people. There was a definite sense of accomplishment," Steve says.

While Sam ended up beating his dad, the pair was excited to cross the finish line. "Sam beat me by two seconds. I think by two seconds, he cut me off at the end," Steve says laughing.

As per tradition, following the run, the Klassen's will be celebrating with ice cream from BDI and family time for Father's Day.

Related Stories