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听That record of 13 minutes, 43.8 seconds has yet to be broken. And 45 years later, Dr. Bruce Kidd 鈥� now dean of the Faculty of Physical Education and Health at the University of Toronto 鈥� feels a little bit badly about it.
鈥淥n the one hand, it鈥檚 nice to know an old guy like me had a fast childhood,鈥� says the 64-year-old university professor who cycled the Cabot Trail this summer. (He loves hills 鈥斺�済ravity goodies, I call 鈥榚m.鈥�) 鈥淏ut it doesn鈥檛 say much about the level of distance running in Canada. It shows Canada has stood still, if not fallen behind.鈥�
That鈥檚 not to say Dr. Kidd hasn鈥檛 taken advantage of the record when he鈥檚 needed to: 鈥淚 say to my students, 鈥業f you want an extension on that assignment, you鈥檒l have to run 10,000 metres with me and ask me again during the last 1,000 metres,鈥� he says with a laugh.听 鈥淚t鈥檚 been really effective in getting students to hand their essays in on time.鈥�
While the record has stayed fixed, Dr. Kidd has kept moving. He鈥檚 built a career promoting the benefits of physical fitness, as an educator, an Olympic athlete and a social scientist who鈥檚 written extensively about the history and political economy of Canadian and international sport. This Saturday, he鈥檒l be awarded an honorary degree for his accomplishments at Dalhousie鈥檚 convocation ceremonies. On Friday, he鈥檒l participate in a panel discussion, one of many events marking the 40th anniversary of Dalhousie鈥檚 School of Health and Human Performance.
A point of pride has been the work Dr. Kidd鈥檚 done to eradicate sexism and racism in sporting communities throughout the world. Through the 1980s until the fall of apartheid, Dr. Kidd was 鈥渢he screamer鈥� who pressed for a boycott against South Africa鈥檚 participation in world sporting events.
鈥淚 was the one who pushed the federal ministers to make the changes. I鈥檇 see Joe Clark in an airport and badger him about not answering my letters,鈥� he recalls. 鈥淚n 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 couldn鈥檛 abide by that.鈥�
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Dr. Kidd鈥檚 involvement in international sport starting in the 1960s has given him life-long joy and revealed that his world extends far beyond his hometown.
鈥淲hen 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.鈥�
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