| Location: Garson - Sudbury,ON,Canada Member Since: Apr 20, 2013 Gender: Male Goal Type: Other Running Accomplishments: I ran my first marathon in 1998: "The Friendly Marathon" in Massey, Ontario. I was 32. I had never raced in a shorter event, and I trained really poorly - ended up running it in 4:00:30. After that, I gave up running for the most part for 6 years. I got into karate a bit more seriously, until I got my knee kicked out and had ACL surgery. Then I became a 'fair weather runner' and started to run half marathons every so often. As a priest, entering weekend races always meant having to book a holiday, so it just didn't happen much. My holidays were primarily focussed on various canoe and kayak trips.
At some point, I started training more consistently, and started to think of myself as a runner. I guess doing that in your 40's is better than never doing it at all. I even started to wonder if I had it in me to qualify for Boston. Well, I did. First time didn't count, I suppose, since I didn't make the "cut". But the second time was a charm, and on my sixth Marathon, run in Chicago in 2015, I beat my BQ by almost 6 minutes. And now, running a BQ is routine for me, not that I have any desire to run Boston again.
Through it all, I've made tons of mistakes - and have had lots of injuries to show for it. Hopefully, now that I'm in my late 50's, I'm a bit wiser and can use that to my advantage to continue running for a very long time.
My PRs:
5k (12 run): Guelph, ON. October 10, 2016 (50 yrs.) 20:10
10k (10 run): Collingwood October 5, 2013 (47 yrs.) 43:37
Half Marathon (26 run): Cleveland May 18, 2014 (48 yrs) 1:33:08
Marathon (12 run): Ste-Jerome, QC October 3, 2021 (55 yrs.) 3:22:10
Ultras (8 run):
Run for the Toad 50k Trail September 30, 2017 (51 yrs.) 5:31:23
Niagara Falls 100k June 17, 2018 (52 yrs.) 12:26:30
That Dam Hill 24 hours September 15-16, 2018 Completed 100 Miles in 23:20:44
Sulphur Springs 50 mile Trail May 25, 2019 10:37:27
May 25, 2024 9:21:26
Limberlost 35 Mile Trail July 6, 2024 8:12:57
Haliburton Forest 100 mile Trail September 7-8, 2019 26:46:27
September 7-8, 2024 DNF after 65 miles/16 hours
Pacing my sister in her 1st Half Marathon. Short-Term Running Goals: I really want to take on the Haliburton 100 again, after it kicked my butt in 2024, but I'm going to wait until 2026 to take it on again, when I'm 60 years old.
For 2025, I want to try running a Backyard Ultra, just to see how far I can run.
So, a couple of fun runs: 30K Around the Bay in March, and Pick Your Poison 50K in April, followed by Coach D's Backyard in May. That one only runs for 24 hours, so I'm using it to see how I handle the format, in view of running my goal race for 2025: The Bush Bitches Backyard, here in my hometown of Sudbury, in October. Let the training begin! Long-Term Running Goals: Run until this old body of mine won't let me run any more. I was inspired in the Spring of 2016, watching the start of the Ottawa Marathon. Near the back of the pack was an 'old man', running with his walker. I loved it! I thought ... there's me in 20 years. Maybe.  Personal: I am a Roman Catholic priest of 31 years, ministering in the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie. I spent 8 years ministering in the small town of Wawa (where I helped establish the annual Blackfly Run) and 9 years in Sault Ste. Marie. I have been in the Sudbury region now for 14 years. Currently I Pastor 2 small Parishes: St. John the Evangelist in Garson, and St. Bernardine of Siena in Skead, covering the area just Northeast of the city, surrounding the Sudbury Airport. |
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 4 Miles: 30.50 | Brooks Cascadia 11 Miles: 80.50 | Nike Zoom Vomero 13 Miles: 35.00 | Brooks Ghost 11 Miles: 53.00 | Salomon Speedcross 4 Miles: 29.50 | Triumph ISO 3 Treadmill Miles: 5.00 |
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| | Radar Road; 8:38 pace. Will try 20 on the trails tomorrow morning.
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 4 Miles: 10.00 |
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| | Back to the Capreol Ski Trails this morning for this one. 10:50 pace, inclusive of the three stops to resupply my hydration/nutrition.
I was thinking the mosquitoes and deer flies would have peaked last week. I was wrong. I think they were worse today.
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| Brooks Cascadia 11 Miles: 20.25 |
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| | I decided to hit the Capreol Ski Trails again today. 3 x 5 mile laps. Average pace turned out to be 10:06 overall, without any stops. I wore my Camelbak and used the bladder.
First lap actually averaged 10:22. After 10 miles I was averaging 10:15. So, I ran each lap significantly faster than the one before, and that was without effort.
I did fall. Twice, on lap 2. Almost 3 times, but I caught myself. Little stumps and/or roots. Just carelessness on my part. Gotta remember you can't zone out on trails! Both times on a flat section with packed dirt - no rocks. So, the tuck and roll did the trick, with no wounds to show.
A bee stung me in the lower back right at the finish. Ouch.
Now I'm debating using the hydration bladder in the race. Not having to stop as often has its advantages. With the bladder, I can carry twice as much tailwind vs my handhelds. Basically, would have to refill it every 12.5 miles, rather than refilling the handhelds every 6. I'll have to think about it.
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| Brooks Cascadia 11 Miles: 15.00 |
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| | Radar Road; 8:46 pace.
Yesterday, I was thinking that my hip/groin injury was finally resolved - a full 10 weeks after I got hurt during Sulphur Springs 50 miler. Today, I see it's not quite there. Ah well - at least it's not holding me back.
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| Nike Zoom Vomero 13 Miles: 15.00 |
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| | Radar Road; 8:50 pace.
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| Brooks Ghost 11 Miles: 10.00 |
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| | Radar Road; 8:52 pace.
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| Brooks Ghost 11 Miles: 10.00 |
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| | Sudbury Camino Trail. Averaged 10:11 pace. This was the 3rd annual, the second which I've "walked". It's hosted by the local hiking trail association to highlight the Sudbury section of the TransCanada Trail. So, while some 200 hiked a section today, I ran it. Turns out a few others did too. It's a perfect way to run a different trail system, and to run it point to point without worrying about how to get back.
So, at 7:15 I left my truck at Moonlight Beach and they bused us out to the starting point some 20 miles away. It was actually in my home town of Lively. At 8am it was 11C/52F and at the finish it was 18C/64F. Perfect for running.
I thought I got out first, but there must have been a couple of runners on another bus that started before me, because at the first 'station', they told me I was the fifth "hiker". A man and a woman had passed me right at the very start, but I didn't know about the other two.
Between that station and the next one, I passed one of those other two - a woman who wasn't sure about a fork in the trail. I never saw her again. Then, at station number 2, I caught up with the guy who had passed me, and we ran together until station 3, at which point we caught up with another guy. The 3 of us ran together and ended up catching the woman who had passed me right at the beginning. So now, guy one took off like an antelope, guy two faded behind, and the woman (name is Helen) ran with me from station four to the end.
That turns out to have been provident, as she has run the Haliburton 50 the last 2 years, and is running the 100 with me four weeks from now. So, some useful sharing of information. She also DNF'd the Sinister 7 last year, and is going back to see about finishing it next year. That's the year I hope to run it too. We'll see. She touched on my biggest fear, when she shared she encountered TWO Grizzly bears on the Alberta course. Didn't help with my fear issue!
Anyway, a fun long run on the trails today.
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| Brooks Cascadia 11 Miles: 20.00 |
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| | Local park trails in Markham; 9:01 pace. Left after my final Mass on Sunday and drove to Markham. Will be spending the day in Toronto, and started with this easy run through some local parks.
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 4 Miles: 6.50 |
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| | Same as yesterday; 9:09 pace. Awesome ballgame last night! Nice to be there to see the Jays win big against Texas.
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 4 Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Radar Road; 8:29 pace. I see that piece of Banana Cheesecake from The Cheese Factory stuck around the waistline. But it was SO GOOD!
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| Nike Zoom Vomero 13 Miles: 10.00 |
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| | Radar Road; 8:46 pace. Cooler mornings now; just 10C/50F for the run. Back to the trails tomorrow, and then to the race venue for a training run on Monday and Tuesday next week.
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| Brooks Ghost 11 Miles: 10.00 |
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| | Planned on 20 miles today on the Capreol Ski Trails. Did just 10; 10:56 pace.
My left Plantar Fasciitis has been acting up the last week or so. It has been years since it has given me trouble. I really felt it on yesterday's run, but hoped the trails would be more gentle on it. I decided to pack it in after 10 miles, rather than push through it and cause more damage. I'll save the long miles for Monday when I hit the Haliburton Trails for the first time.
So, two trouble spots. The right groin is still not 100%. That, however, I can run through. Experience tells me that the PF is only going to get worse unless it fix it now. Good thing I'm 3 weeks out from the race - about time to taper anyway.
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| Brooks Cascadia 11 Miles: 10.00 |
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| | So, after my last Mass on Sunday, I drove the 4 1/2 hours to the race venue. I had booked 2 nights on a campsite, as I wanted to run the trails I'll be racing in just over 2 weeks.
The site I booked is actually the same one I have booked for the night before the race. I set up my tent and made dinner. From a camping perspective, not everything went well. It has been 8 years since my last (epic) kayak trip on Georgian Bay, and I haven't used my equipment since. So, dried out seals on the fuel pump for the camp stove. Broken zippers on the tent. Other odds and ends that were a bit of an annoyance. But I came to run, not camp.
So, on Monday I set out. I ran the entire route, minus the 6 miles around MacDonald Lake. I'd do that tomorrow. Plus the distance from the turnaround back to my camp (on a road - about 4 miles). This route is 25 miles out. So, out and back twice on race day.
I have to say - it's rough! Highly technical trails. I was hoping for something similar to the Capreol Ski Trails, but now I see that those are a paved highway compared to the trails in Haliburton. So, I'm sure glad I went. I'll have to do some major mental adjustments now in preparation. I was thinking of aiming for around 25 hours. Now I'm going to allow myself the race cutoff of 30 hours and see what happens.
It took just under 5 hours to run the 23 miles; 12:47/mile pace. Total elevation was 2,766 feet. I'm pretty sure I took a wrong turn or two, but I got a pretty good idea of the route. It will all be flagged on race day.
Oh, a new pain. Joy. I can add to my right groin (I can live with that) and left Plantar Fasciitus (which I'm not too happy about) my right Achilles Tendon. I'm in taper mode now, and I think I'll cut back my mileage even more than planned, just to let things heal up. At this point, I don't think it's the fitness I need to be concerned about. Rather, it's going to be the mental side of things.
The deer flies were incredible!!! I never imagined they would be worse than those on the Capreol Trails. I'll have to put bug repellant on for the afternoon portion of the race.
Oh, just 2 miles from the end, I caught up to a black bear that was ambling slowly down the road. About 150 feet ahead by the time I saw it. It didn't notice me, so I cleared my throat and it took off.
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| Salomon Speedcross 4 Miles: 23.00 |
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| | So, today I wanted to run the 6 mile portion around MacDonald Lake. Since I'll be running it 4 times on race day, it represents about a quarter of the entire event.
I ran it at a 12:06/mile pace; elevation gain was 589 feet. So, that puts the race at about 3,300 feet per section, for a total of over 13,000 feet. A good climb!
About half this section is on a dirt road, with the trail section being highly technical and (steep) hilly. It should be an interesting race. As I said yesterday, doing these runs was a good decision. For sure I'll make some mental adjustments over the next few weeks.
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| Salomon Speedcross 4 Miles: 6.50 |
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| | Radar Road; 8:53 pace.
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| Brooks Ghost 11 Miles: 10.00 |
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| | Back to the Capreol Ski Trails for the last time this year. Unless I go skiing on them this winter, of course. Pace was 10:18.
The cooler nights have had one great side effect - no deer flies or mosquitoes today! Nice.
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| Brooks Cascadia 11 Miles: 15.25 |
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| | Skead Road; 8:36 pace.
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 4 Miles: 8.00 |
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| | Goodwill Road; 8:57 pace. Steady rain throughout.
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| Triumph ISO 3 Treadmill Miles: 5.00 |
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| | Skead Road; 8:45 pace.
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| Brooks Ghost 11 Miles: 8.00 |
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| | Radar Road; 8:37 pace.
I make the 4 hour drive to Haliburton for the 100, one week from today.
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| Nike Zoom Vomero 13 Miles: 10.00 |
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| | Goodwill Road; 8:46 pace.
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| Brooks Ghost 11 Miles: 5.00 |
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 4 Miles: 30.50 | Brooks Cascadia 11 Miles: 80.50 | Nike Zoom Vomero 13 Miles: 35.00 | Brooks Ghost 11 Miles: 53.00 | Salomon Speedcross 4 Miles: 29.50 | Triumph ISO 3 Treadmill Miles: 5.00 |
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