Starblanket ready to represent Saskatchewan

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There's a little more silverware in Vaughn Starblanket's trophy case.

The Regina resident and member of the Star Blanket First Nation took home the Paul LaSwisse Award during the annual Fort Qu'Appelle Lions Echo Valley Road Race, a 20 kilometre race held on May 19.

For many people, finishing a 20-km run is an achievement in itself. But Starblanket, a member of the Regina Athletics and Track Club, has his eyes on some more prizes.

He's preparing for the junior national competition for Canadian Athletes under 20 years of age, to be held in Kitchener, Ont. in July. After that, he's heading to Winnipeg as a part of Team Saskatchewan at the North American Indigenous Games.

In Winnipeg, Starblanket will be competing in the 1,500 metres, 3,000 metres, 5,000 metres and cross-country races.

"I have a lot of events coming up," he said.

Starblanket finished sixth overall in the race along the shores of Echo Lake, in a time of one hour 18 minutes 47 seconds.

Last year Starblanket finished the race in just over one hour and 17 minutes. This year's race was marred by windy conditions, which made the run down the home stretch even more difficult.

"This wasn't a bad time for me," he said. "I thought I was going to be faster, but it was very windy on the course."

To prepare for races such as Echo Valley, Starblanket trains six days a week.

"I do a lot of long-distance runs, from eight kilometres to 12 kilometres, as well as specified speed work," he said. "That means that I would do fast intervals round the tracks at certain lengths, 400 metres, 600 metres, stuff like that."

Starblanket gets his running abilities and his competitive nature from his family.

"My father was a runner when he was in high school. He was one of the best in the province," he said.

And he's also been inspired by some of the athletes he's met while competing.

"I've met a lot of runners along the way, like Billy Mills (a Sioux from South Dakota who won a gold medal in the 10,000 metres for the United States at the 1964 Olympics).

"He inspired me to keep running," Starblanket said.

The Paul LaSwisse Trophy is named after the famous runner from the Standing Buffalo Dakota Nation who won the event seven times in races held in the 1930s and 1940s.

Ironically, that record of excellence was surpassed this year by Ted Jalenta of Regina, who won the Echo Valley Road Race for a record setting eighth time that day.

Starblanket's race wasn't the only Aboriginal accomplishment to reach the award podium. A team made up of four Pasqua First Nations boys-Leslie Pasqua, Lucas Lerat, Mark Stonechild and Tommy Stonechild-won the under 14 boys relay.