The Last Hurdle for Polio

This past Saturday at Canyon Lake High School the interact club held their relay for life benefiting Polio.

Keegan Collins headed up the endeavor as the interact club were up bright and early for the 5K and fun run. Whether you were running or walking they had something for everyone.

“Last November we came up with this idea and we have been ‘running’ with it ever since,” Organizer Collins said. “We started at about seven this morning putting it all together.”

The Interact Club has 40 members and you could tell they had put a lot of work in for this event.

Phil Frank, the President of the Rotary Club in Canyon Lake, that helps support the Interact Club said, “Polio plus is our signature project, with over 33,000 events going on just this year. We act as the advisors for the Interact Club here at Canyon Lake High School.”

The Last Hurdle in Eradicating Polio Worldwide, were the red t-shirts most everyone were wearing at the event.

There were different ages and sizes of people participating in the race as Head Football Coach Matt Monzingo fired the gun starting the race after Collins hoisted the Olympic Torch on its pedestal to signify the starting of the event.

One of the first finishers was a young man named Jack Hamil who finished first in his age bracket.

“It feels good,” Jack ‘Attack’ Hamil said. “I wasn’t too tired.”

When asked about the word ‘attack’ on his name tag, Hamil stated, “That is just my nickname.”

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The significance of Hamil winning this event signifies the Last Hurdle will hopefully be in his lifetime and the finish he had would be nothing better for Polio to be eradicated.

Thanks goes out to all the ‘Jack Hamil’s’ that participated, to do their part in stomping out Polio.