As soon as Ben Thorne could walk, his dad Jim had him on cross-country skis, trekking the paths around Onion Lake.

Years later, the 16-year-old is shattering cross-country records as a marathon runner for Kitimat’s Mount Elizabeth Secondary School.

The Grade 11 student credits his parents for kickstarting his active lifestyle when he was just a boy.

“My dad was always a runner,” he said. “He got me into cross-country skiing very early on. From there, I started registering in community runs and playing soccer.”

Thorne put himself on the running radar, finishing first in the All Seasons five-kilometre marathon held in Terrace with a spectacular time of 16:38.

“My coach, Dale Young, pushed me to enter that race,” Thorne said. “I actually beat his record by 13 seconds.”

Young, a volunteer coach at Mount Elizabeth and member of the Kitimat Fire Department, said he had held the course record since 1994 with a time of 16:51.

Thorne also finished first this year in the King of the Mountain race, also in Terrace.

Young has headed up the school’s cross-country team for the past seven years and is amazed by Thorne’s talent.

“He’s the most talented runner I’ve ever seen,” he said. “He just has a natural ability and it’s amazing how much an active lifestyle can help.”

He added that Thorne’s new course record in the 5 km is “ridiculously fast,” especially since the second-place finisher finished nearly two full minutes behind.

“To be self-motivated to run like that is very impressive,” said Young. “Ben’s really maturing this year.”

Thorne said his times have jumped every year since he finished Kildala Elementary School.

After high school, he said he will continue to pursue cross-country in university, while perhaps studying medicine.

Thorne competed in the zone championships this past weekend in Smithers, winning his race.

He, along with five other students from MESS, Ian Forbes, Steven Cook, Jillian Hamilton, Karoline Kant and Cassandra Fossl, will represent the school at the provincial championships in White Rock next month. 

In the team competition, the MESS boys team finished second, and the girls team finished third.