Dawson City runner Jack Amos is asking the Yukon to help him get to the next level.
The 15-year-old, who is one of the best up-and-coming runners in the territory, wants to move to a climate that facilitates year-round training.
Victoria, B.C. is the place he has in mind.
“I really enjoy the atmosphere and the people and the whole environment of the city,” said Amos. “I chose to move because this winter has been kind of hard on a physical level. The cold temperatures and snow definitely affect training a lot, so Victoria would be able to provide better conditions for year-round training.”
Amos, who will begin his Grade 11 year in the fall, wants to position himself for a great Grade 12 season in hopes of landing a scholarship to a top running university.
But a change of location doesn’t come cheap. Amos has launched a GoFundMe page to raise money. His goal is $12,000, which he will direct towards rent and food costs. At press time his page was at $7,751 towards his goal.
Amos, who was in Victoria this week looking at high schools, has already joined local running club the Prairie Inn Harriers — one of the best clubs in the country. He competed with the Harriers two months ago in Seattle and will race with them again in Oregon next week. Whitehorse’s Logan Roots, another elite runner from Yukon, also used to race with the Harriers while he was at school on the island.
Amos, who busks as a juggler and works at a theatre in Dawson, has an impressive running resume. He won three medals in snowshoeing at the 2016 Arctic Winter Games in Greenland. Racing his first B.C. Cross Country Championships in October, Amos claimed the midget male title out of a field of 32 runners. He went to compete up an age group in youth men at the Canadian Cross Country Championships last November, placing 85th out of a field of 211.
He also pocketed three medals at the Jack Brow Memorial Track and Field Meet last summer in Kelowna, B.C., before placing first overall at the 39th annual Midnight Dome Race in his hometown.
More recently, he won the under-18 male 3,000-metre at the Alberta Indoor Track and Field Championships last month in Edmonton.
Amos hopes to race for Team Yukon at the Canada Summer Games this year in Winnipeg.
To contribute to Amos’ fund, visit GoFundMe.com, search “Help me train in Victoria,” and the page will pop up.
“I am a determined and hardworking runner whose love for running and representing the Yukon, are my motivators. I want to become as fast as I can and make the Yukon proud, so please help my dream come true,” Amos says on his page.
Contact Tom Patrick at tomp@yukon-news.com