| 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 (25 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 (5 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
Haliburton Forest 100 mile Trail September 7-8, 2019 26:46:27
Pacing my sister in her 1st Half Marathon. Short-Term Running Goals: After a broken right foot in 2022 in the later stages of a marathon training cycle, then adjusting to a 1/2" heal lift in my right shoe to compensate for a leg length discrepancy, and then a left plank plate rupture in the late summer of 2023, I had to decide: go fast or go long. I opted for long, for this year at least.
May 2024: Sulphur Springs 50 Mile Trail (revisiting it after 5 years)
July 2024: Limberlost 54KM Trail
September 2024: Haliburton 100 Mile Trail (also revisiting it after 5 years).
Everything this year is really focussed on the Haliburton 100 as my key event. After that, and depending on how things go, I'll reevaluate. 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 30 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 13 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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| Ghost 13 Blue Sole Miles: 8.50 | Brooks Ghost 13 Miles: 47.00 | Brooks Cascadia 11 Miles: 55.00 | Hoka Bondi 8 Treadmill/outside Miles: 95.00 | Saucony Triumph 18 Miles: 10.00 | Salomon Speedcross 4 Miles: 20.00 |
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| | Yesterday's off day was a real help. So was the massage in the afternoon. Felt much better today. 9:08 pace.
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| Ghost 13 Blue Sole Miles: 8.50 |
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| | 6 of the miles on hills. Average pace of 9:48/mile. Today is the last day of the big heat wave that has made running an extra challenge this week.
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| Brooks Ghost 13 Miles: 10.00 |
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| | 20 miles on the Capreol ski trails. 10:45 pace. |
| Brooks Cascadia 11 Miles: 20.00 |
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| | Easy recovery run; 9:12 pace.
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| Hoka Bondi 8 Treadmill/outside Miles: 8.00 |
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| | Mixed in some fartleks with this run; haven't done much speedwork in this training cycle. Nice to let the legs go a little bit. 8:46 pace.
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| Brooks Ghost 13 Miles: 7.00 |
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| | Back to the Capreol Ski Trails, giving me 35 miles on them this week. 10:50 pace.
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| Brooks Ghost 13 Miles: 15.00 |
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| | Easy paced 9:30 run. Saw a female deer on the road just in front of me. Yesterday, on the trails, it was a large buck. Lots of partridge around too.
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| Brooks Ghost 13 Miles: 10.00 |
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| | Capreol ski trails. It rained overnight, so some standing water and more mud than usual. I should have eaten something before; I was pretty depleted at the end. |
| Brooks Cascadia 11 Miles: 15.00 |
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| | Easy 9:22 run. |
| Saucony Triumph 18 Miles: 5.00 |
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| | A few sprints up the hills, but overall an easy run; 9:10 pace.
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| Saucony Triumph 18 Miles: 5.00 |
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| | Easy run; 9:45 pace. |
| Brooks Ghost 13 Miles: 5.00 |
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| | 9:39 pace for this back to back. Tomorrow, I'll take the next 20 miles to the trails.
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| Hoka Bondi 8 Treadmill/outside Miles: 20.00 |
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| | Back to the Capreol Ski Trails to complete the back to back. A very slow 12:07 pace on very heavy legs. A black bear ran out in front of me at mile 4 - I yelled at it and it ran off. Came across it again on my second loop - this time off in the woods a bit.
It rained a bit overnight, so everything was wet. It started raining again for 45 minutes around mile 12. It actually felt good. Although it was not hot at 20C/68F, it was near 99% humidity.
There was some kind of big dirtbike event going on - quite a crowd there at the end of my second lap. I heard them riding, but it looks like they were on the snowshoe trails, and I never saw a bike on the ski trail.
End of peak mileage. Haliburton 100 is three weeks from today. Now I taper.
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| Salomon Speedcross 4 Miles: 20.00 |
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| | Quite a bit cooler today, at just 10C/50F and a brisk Northern wind. Ran a very hilly road, and 2 miles on an old rail bed. That's where I tripped over a rock and fell at mile four. Nasty. Scrapped my right hand, knee and shoulder. Finished with a 9:22 pace. |
| Hoka Bondi 8 Treadmill/outside Miles: 10.00 |
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| | Easy run; 9:20 pace. |
| Hoka Bondi 8 Treadmill/outside Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Easy 9:25 paced run, just before sunrise. It was cool, at just 7C/45F. I wore gloves and I was fine.
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| Hoka Bondi 8 Treadmill/outside Miles: 10.00 |
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| | Capreol Ski Trails. Averaged an 11:25 pace. Would have been closer to an 11:15 pace, but I lost time when I encountered a skunk at mile 4. It was huge - a beautiful specimen - and was trotting down the trail towards me. We both stopped and eyed each other warily. Then it started to trot towards me. I think it was thinking there was enough room for us to pass each other, but I didn't want to take the chance. So, I yelled at it and it stopped, and then reluctantly turned back the way it had come - up the trail I was on.
I trotted behind it, hoping it would go off the trail. It didn't. A full quarter mile before it finally stepped off and I was able to safely pass.
Then, there was a huge backhoe dredging the sewage pond at mile 4.5. I couldn't pass, as it was sitting on the trail, so had to detour on another trail. Then, just past mile 5, I encountered a fox. After that, just a whole lot of partridge on the trails.
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| Brooks Cascadia 11 Miles: 20.00 |
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| | Easy recovery run; 9:34 pace. Two weeks to race day.
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| Hoka Bondi 8 Treadmill/outside Miles: 5.00 |
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| | Easy tapering week run; 9:28 pace. |
| Hoka Bondi 8 Treadmill/outside Miles: 8.00 |
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| | Easy 5; 9:30 pace. |
| Hoka Bondi 8 Treadmill/outside Miles: 5.00 |
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| | Easy run on a very cool morning; 9:12 pace.
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| Hoka Bondi 8 Treadmill/outside Miles: 8.00 |
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| | Easy tapering run; 9:25 pace. |
| Hoka Bondi 8 Treadmill/outside Miles: 10.00 |
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| | Easy tapering run; 9:22 pace. A man in a truck stopped me to say a big bear with two cubs walked out of the woods just behind me. I said 'lots of bears around - I don't bother them and they don't bother me".
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| Hoka Bondi 8 Treadmill/outside Miles: 5.00 |
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| Ghost 13 Blue Sole Miles: 8.50 | Brooks Ghost 13 Miles: 47.00 | Brooks Cascadia 11 Miles: 55.00 | Hoka Bondi 8 Treadmill/outside Miles: 95.00 | Saucony Triumph 18 Miles: 10.00 | Salomon Speedcross 4 Miles: 20.00 |
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