Athletes’ success coach’s greatest reward After nearly 50 years, Maples’ Leaden still going strong By: Mike McIntyre Posted: 6:52 PM CDT Wednesday, Jun. 12, 2024

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This article was published 12/06/2024 (830 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Her birth certificate and bum knee might be suggesting it’s finally time to put her feet up and enjoy retirement.

Rae Leaden is having none of it. The 70-year-old Winnipegger is about to wrap up her 49th year as a high school track and field coach and shows no signs of slowing down.

“She’s probably the most incredible person I’ll ever meet in my life,” Arden Hill, a teacher at Maples Collegiate, told the Free Press.

Leaden downplays any suggestions she’s a sporting superhero, insisting she gets more than she gives out of the gig she’s been doing since 1975 — the first 33 years while working as a teacher in the Seven Oaks School Division, the last 16 purely on a volunteer basis.

“It makes me feel good,” she said Wednesday. “I really enjoy working with the kids.”

Leaden’s dedication can’t be questioned. Consider she’s going under the knife in early July for a left knee replacement with the goal of not missing a beat and being back in action in September to officially hit the half-century mark.

“I’m very fortunate that I could get it done in the summertime. I’m hoping eight weeks (of recovery) and I’m OK to go,” she said.

“She’s probably the most incredible person I’ll ever meet in my life.”–Arden Hill, teacher

Maples traditionally has from 50 to 80 kids enrolled in track each school year, which leads to a staggering number when you do the math: Between 2,450 and 3,920 runners, hurdlers, shot putters and more have been coached by Leaden in some fashion.

“I’ve even got quite a few children of former students. So far, no grandchildren,” she chuckled.

Give it a few more years — her new knee will certainly help the cause — and that will likely change.

“She works very hard at this. I sometimes feel a little bit like second fiddle,” joked her husband, Bruce.

“I was teasing her a while back — I’ve had a couple health issues recently — and I teased her and said I’ll drop dead and you’ll be planning my funeral around your track practices.”

Leaden was the head coach at Maples until the global pandemic shut things down for a year. Since then, she works as an assistant to Hill (a graphic arts teacher) along with two phys-ed instructors in Sherwin Bacani and Lisa Kowalyshyn.

“The students love her. They just adore her. It’s amazing what she does,” said Hill.

“She’s got this incredible memory. She’ll be at a track one day and be like ‘Oh yeah, I remember this kid ran the 400 back in like 1988, and then in 86’…It’s like, holy, how do you remember all this stuff.”

That has made Leaden a bit of a rock star at various track meets and beyond.

“I’m always bumping into people who know her. Like, I’m going to cancer care and at least two of the nurses giving me treatment there are former students of hers,” said her husband, who wrote a book in 1984 titled Bicycle Camping in Canada which chronicled four epic cross-country trips he and his wife took on two wheels.

Being a mentor is in Leaden’s DNA

Being a mentor and giving back to the community is in Leaden’s DNA, as demonstrated by the fact she also volunteers in a “rhyme and story-time” program at a local nursery school, entertains seniors at Fred Douglas Lodge by playing piano and is an active member of her church.

“I like working with people of all ages,” she said.

High school track, however, is where her heart is, even if the body of the former multi-sport athlete from Grant Park isn’t quite as willing as it once was.

“I would go run with the cross-country teams, but I don’t get to do that anymore. I used to love to demonstrate hurdles and other jumping events. Now I’ve got plenty of other younger kids to demonstrate,” said Leaden.

“I’m just happy when we go to a cross country meet I can go walk a four-, five-kilometre course with the kids as a preliminary.”

Seeing students of all sizes and abilities find confidence and success is the best reward.

“It’s a team that’s very inclusive,” she said.

“Nobody is cut out of the track team. You come, you try to improve to the best of your ability. We will try to find an event that will fit. That’s the other great thing about track: you can be a thrower, a jumper, a distance runner, a sprinter. There’s usually some event that will fit your body type and abilities and that’s really nice.”

Along with the physical and mental rewards for the athletes, Leaden admits it helps keep her young. She has also coached other school sports including volleyball, gymnastics and curling and is quick to credit a trio of former Maples coaches she worked with —Ernie Wilson, Hannes Boundy and Ed Alexiuk — for paving the way.

Hill would love to see his school division eventually pay tribute to his longtime colleague in fitting fashion.

“I’m just a teacher around here, but I’ve often thought they should name the track here at Maples the Rae Leaden track,” he said. “That’s something I’d really like to see happen.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg