| 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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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 52.00 | Saucony ISO Triumph 3 Miles: 66.00 | Mizuno Wave Sayonara 2 Miles: 48.00 | Brooks Glycerin 13 Treadmill Miles: 62.00 |
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| | Goodwill Route; 8:42 pace.
I should probably start wearing my headlamp; the first few miles were pretty dark. Of course, we'll gain an hour in the morning this weekend, so we'll see.
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 7.00 |
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| | Tempo run; Radar Road.
7 miles at 7:55 pace, which means I basically nailed it - finally, after 2 previous attempts where I went too fast.
At least I THINK this should be my marathon pace. Running it would beat my BQ time by 7 1/2 minutes when I attempt that a year and a half from now. And that's the new, fast BQ time.
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 3 Miles: 10.00 |
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| | Goodwill Route; 8:30 pace. With the clocks moving back, my run started with a stunning red sky, about 30 minutes before sunrise. Awesome.
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 8.00 |
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| | Radar Road; 8:18 pace.
Miserable sort of day: hovering between 1-3C/34-37F, with a steady rain and gusty wind. Just yucky.
But hey, it put me over the 2,000 mile mark for the year. Yippee!
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 3 Miles: 15.00 |
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| | Recovery run on Goodwill Road; 8:55 pace. In the rain. Again.
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 8.00 |
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| | Speedwork. 6 x.800 @ 6:40 pace with 400 recoveries.
I took it to the treadmill for the first time this season. The ongoing rain has turned the track next door soft and mushy. Besides, it's a perfect way to nail my splits!
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| Mizuno Wave Sayonara 2 Miles: 8.00 |
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| | Easy run on Goodwill Road; 8:40 pace.
Some snow heading our way. Predictions are for 10cm/4 inches of snow by this time tomorrow.
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 3 Miles: 7.00 |
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| | Back to the treadmill today for my Tempo work. Too slippery outside with all that snow, and the drivers are always atrocious after the first significant snowfall of the season.
8 miles at my Tempo Pace of 7:52.
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| Mizuno Wave Sayonara 2 Miles: 11.00 |
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| | Back to the treadmill this morning; 8:56 pace.
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Treadmill Miles: 10.00 |
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| | Goodwill Route; 8:48 pace.
Yesterday, driving to my Mission, the landscape was stunning with a heavy hoarfrost covering all the trees. Today, that had given way to snow, which has been falling lightly all night. A different kind of beautiful - both are awesome.
This route is a local road, usually unplowed except for after the heaviest snow, so I follow the tire ruts - works well enough, and the traffic is not very heavy.
The snow continued to fall - huge, fluffy flakes. Like running through little cotton balls.
A wolf looking dog joined me for one mile. Had never seen it before, but it was friendly enough. Ran just in front of me, and at times beside me. Then got bored and dashed off into the woods.
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 3 Miles: 10.00 |
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| | Goodwill Road; 8:45 pace. Icy cold and icy. -10C/15F. And twice I almost did a face plant. Kind of goofy looking as I waved my arms wildly to regain my balance.
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Speedwork on the treadmill. To paraphrase Robin Williams, it's colder than a penguin's butt in a sled rut out there today! Record lows: -18C/-1F. With the wind, it feels a lot colder.
Anyway, 3 x 1600 repeats at 6:44 pace with 600 recoveries. No problems.
And that's the end of my speedwork. Wednesdays will now be given over to strength workouts - intervals at 10 seconds/mile faster than marathon pace.
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| Mizuno Wave Sayonara 2 Miles: 7.00 |
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| | Goodwill Route; 8:44 pace. Snowing pretty heavy, so it was like running through mashed potatoes at times. Still, it was nice to be out. Used my headlamp for the first time this Fall, since visibility was close to zero. More for the cars to see me than anything else.
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Tempo pace on the treadmill. 8 miles steady at 7:52/mile.
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Treadmill Miles: 11.00 |
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| | Goodwill Route. 8:37 pace. ICY cold. Crisp? -15C/5F Still, nice to be outside, since there is little traffic on a Sunday morning, the sunrise was awesome and the trees were a brilliant white.
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 3 Miles: 8.00 |
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| | Treadmill today; 8:35 pace. Then to my monthly massage to work out all the kinks.
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Treadmill Miles: 16.00 |
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| | Treadmill; 8:56 pace.
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Treadmill Miles: 8.00 |
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| | Strength run on the treadmill. 6 x 1 mile repeats at 7:39 pace, with 400 recoveries.
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| Mizuno Wave Sayonara 2 Miles: 11.00 |
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| | Goodwill Route; 8:42 pace. Nice to be outside. Cold wind. Getting warmer, however. All the way up to -9C/15F. We're finally getting out of the deep freeze, and should be back to seasonal temperatures by tomorrow.
The road is hard pack snow with lots of icy sections and a few mushy spots.
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 7.00 |
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| | Tempo workout on the treadmill. 8 miles at 7:52 pace.
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Treadmill Miles: 11.00 |
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| | Goodwill Route; 8:42 pace.
I fell.
Shortly after mile 4.
The road was slick, as it's up to 1C/34F and right at the melting point. There was a slight mist falling, which kinda looked weird in the headlamp. As the road was icy, I was running close to the edge where there was a layer of softer snow and, sometimes, bare gravel.
Going up a slight incline, it was really icy and I moved closer to the edge. I went down so fast I didn't know what happened at first. Ended up I tripped over a stump. Fortunately, because it happened so fast, I didn't have time to tense up. Unfortunately, I fell down to my left, into the ditch, and rolled down it into even deeper snow. It must have looked goofy (or Dopey - I'm training for the Dopey Run, after all), and I was SO grateful nobody was around to see it. No harm done.
Since I had to double back 2 miles on this 6 mile route to make up the distance needed, I passed the spot again after the sun came up. It was one, measly, 1 inch stump sticking up a few inches from the ground. Duh.
Between the mist, the fall and the puddles I ran through, I was very soaked by the time I was finished.
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 10.00 |
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| | A repeat of yesterday's run on Goodwill Drive. This time in daylight. A bit less slippery, and no fall today. 8:23 pace.
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 3 Miles: 10.00 |
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| | Back to the treadmill, in the midst of a good snow squall. Schools shut down. Winter arrived WAY too early this year.
8:56 pace.
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Treadmill Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Strength workout on the treadmill. 1.5 miles x 4 with 800 recoveries. 7:39 pace.
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| Mizuno Wave Sayonara 2 Miles: 11.00 |
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| | Goodwill Route; 8:30 pace. Gentle snow falling with little wind.
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 3 Miles: 6.00 |
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 52.00 | Saucony ISO Triumph 3 Miles: 66.00 | Mizuno Wave Sayonara 2 Miles: 48.00 | Brooks Glycerin 13 Treadmill Miles: 62.00 |
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