| 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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| 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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