pilipiliĀž»­

 

Going the distance

Bruce Kidd to be honored at Dal's convocation

- October 17, 2007

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Special event:

WHAT: Panelists Bruce Kidd (University of Toronto), Phyllis Berck (City of Toronto) and Susan Tirone (pilipiliĀž»­) discuss ā€œPhysical Activity, Health Promotion and Changing Social Norms.ā€
WHEN: Friday, Oct. 19, 3:30 to 5 p.m.
WHERE: Scotiabank Auditorium, Marion McCain Bldg

On the eve of his 20th birthday, Bruce Kidd ran the race of his life: he clocked the fastest time for a 5,000-metre race in Los Angeles, Cal., beat the Olympic champ and set the Canadian junior menā€™s record.

That record of 13 minutes, 43.8 seconds has yet to be broken. And 45 years later, Dr. Bruce Kidd ā€” now dean of the Faculty of Physical Education and Health at the University of Toronto ā€” feels a little bit badly about it.

ā€œOn the one hand, itā€™s nice to know an old guy like me had a fast childhood,ā€ says the 64-year-old university professor who cycled the Cabot Trail this summer. (He loves hills ā€”ā€œgravity goodies, I call ā€˜em.ā€) ā€œBut it doesnā€™t say much about the level of distance running in Canada. It shows Canada has stood still, if not fallen behind.ā€

Thatā€™s not to say Dr. Kidd hasnā€™t taken advantage of the record when heā€™s needed to: ā€œI say to my students, ā€˜If you want an extension on that assignment, youā€™ll have to run 10,000 metres with me and ask me again during the last 1,000 metres,ā€ he says with a laugh.Ģż ā€œItā€™s been really effective in getting students to hand their essays in on time.ā€

While the record has stayed fixed, Dr. Kidd has kept moving. Heā€™s built a career promoting the benefits of physical fitness, as an educator, an Olympic athlete and a social scientist whoā€™s written extensively about the history and political economy of Canadian and international sport. This Saturday, heā€™ll be awarded an honorary degree for his accomplishments at pilipiliĀž»­ā€™s convocation ceremonies. On Friday, heā€™ll participate in a panel discussion, one of many events marking the 40th anniversary of Dalhousieā€™s School of Health and Human Performance.

A point of pride has been the work Dr. Kiddā€™s done to eradicate sexism and racism in sporting communities throughout the world. Through the 1980s until the fall of apartheid, Dr. Kidd was ā€œthe screamerā€ who pressed for a boycott against South Africaā€™s participation in world sporting events.

ā€œI was the one who pushed the federal ministers to make the changes. Iā€™d see Joe Clark in an airport and badger him about not answering my letters,ā€ he recalls. ā€œIn the end, it was a very difficult campaign because it goes against the grain of reaching out through sports, but at the time South Africa was a country where the futures of people were based on pigmentation. I couldnā€™t abide by that.ā€
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Dr. Kiddā€™s involvement in international sport starting in the 1960s has given him life-long joy and revealed that his world extends far beyond his hometown.

ā€œWhen I was a kid growing up in the east-end of Toronto, there was one black family and one Jewish family. But now one of our big challenges is dealing with a rapidly changing population, where the pinkies like me will be the minority. The Olympics prepared me for a world of complexities and let me view diversity as an opportunity and an enrichment.ā€

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