Frequently asked questions

At the beginning of the hour, participants will join their group and follow the instructions of their Group Leaders for the entire hour. All kids will be placed in a group with up to 14 others of around the same age and will run with that same group for the entire season. Each night there will be up to four different exercises set up, based on the four FUNdamentals of adventure running: Endurance, Agility, Speed, and Navigation. Each week the groups participate in either one or two of these exercises, cycling through all exercises once every two weeks. Below this FAQ - check out some video examples of ARK exercises!

There is very little essential gear for Adventure Running Kids. MANDATORY In the Fall season, once it gets dark a headlamp is MANDATORY. Any participant who shows up to practice without one may not be allowed to take part. SHOES We recommend a trail shoe with an aggressive and grippy sole to handle loose trails and uneven terrain. 'Old' shoes with little to no tread should be avoided. Participants showing up in open toed shoes (sandals, crocs etc) will not be allowed to participate. CLOTHING Should be weather appropriate. For the early Fall/late Spring loose fitting, lightweight & breathable materials are ideal. As the weather gets cooler start to layer up with longer pants and jackets/long sleeve T-shirts. A waterpoof shell is great in wet conditions. Shorts and Tshirts are appropriate for summer, however parents should be aware of potential hazards such as insect bites (mosquitoes, ticks), sunburn, and scratches from undergrowth when running off-trail. Potential precautions include wearing light leg cover, applying sunscreen and insect repellent, and checking your kids for ticks after each session. These precautions are the same as those recommended for outdoor excursions in general and will ensure that your children are able to safely enjoy being in nature In winter conditions gear to stay warm is necessary; gloves, toques etc. Finally, clothing WILL get wet and OR muddy during some sessions! It's not the best idea to wear your favourite pair of shoes or anything you may need the next day. Clothing to be avoided: anything cotton, jeans/denim, hiking boots.

Yes! The program is whollly run by parent volunteers under the guidance of the Program Manager. The only time we need you to volunteer is during the hour your kids are signed up for! Anyone can volunteer, we need all ability levels. We need Group Leaders to run with the lead kids and help the back of the pack along. We also need Station Coaches to run the exercises each night (that are set up before hand by the Program Manager) Check the role details here:

In general, ARK runs rain, hail or shine. Training night practices may be cancelled due to exceptional weather and may not be re-scheduled. Our cold weather cut off is -15ºC without wind chill.   We will also cancel practice if there is any threat of lightning, high wind or other extreme weather events that have official Orange or Red Alert on the Environment Canada website in your region.   In the case of a Yellow Alert, we will make a judgement call based on the ARK location, nearby facilities, hourly forecast etc, although 95% of the time we are likely to cancel on a Yellow Alert.   A grey ‘Special Weather Statement’ is unlikely to result in cancellation. We will monitor the situation, but these alerts are generally for events happening in the future.   Otherwise, practices will run year-round, rain or shine!   Learn more about the Environment Canada Alert system here.(https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment/weather/severeweather/weather-alerts/colour-coded-alerts.html)   Coaches will do their best to alert parents ahead of time if a practice is being cancelled by posting a message online and emailing all parents via the email address they supplied during registration.     Cancellation messages will be posted online by 4pm at the latest on our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/adventurerunningkids(https://www.facebook.com/adventurerunningkids)

We strongly encourage you to wait until they have turned six. However, if you really want to sign them up you can but: 1. They must turn six over the course of the program; and 2. A parent or guardian to be present with the group for the entire hour the program runs. Please contact your location Program Manager on how to sign up. We do not provide refunds after the program has first started.

ARK and ARK Attack are essentially the same program. Some of the exercises throughout the season will have a slightly more advanced 'twist' for the older ARK Attack participants to keep them challenged as they improve.

ARK differs from other running programs in that running speed actually means very little. All our exercises are planned so that kids of all abilities can run together. In special occasions, we have allowed kids who excel in the Navigation portion of the program to join an older group. If that is the case, please contact the Program Manager for your location to discuss further.

Absolutely. Just sign up for ARK Attack in the hour you would like to take part in.

If your child that has a condition that requires one on one supervision, we cannot accomodate that (this includes languages other than English). Participant supervision is done entirely by volunteers, usually parents of kids in the program that hour and we do not require any special training to be a volunteer. If one on one supervision is required, we ask that a parent or guardian be present with the group for the entire hour the program runs. For all participants, if a situation arises where we feel a participant requires one on one supervision for the program to run safely, we will ask a parent or guardian to be present that hour. If that is not possible, we will cancel their registration and provide a refund for the remainder of the season.

Depending on the age of the group we have in any hour, anything from 1:4 to 1:10. If we get any less that the required number, we will do a call out to all parents in that time slot asking to volunteer during that hour. If we still don't have enough, we will strongly modify the programming in that hour to allow the program to run safely with minimal supervision. Note that this is a trail running program, held in the woods. There will never be 100% supervision on ALL kids at ALL times. If you require this for your child to take part, you will need to be present with them at all time.