Running for the joy of it in 2025

Lookout Trail Race

15% off for Fast Running Blog members at St. George Running Center!

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 60'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 (10 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 (53 yrs) 10:37:27

Haliburton Forest 100 mile Trail September 7-8, 2019 26:46:27

Sulphur Springs 50 mile Trail May 25, 2024 (58 yrs) 9:21:26

Limberlost 35 Mile Trail July 6, 2024 (58 yrs) 8:12:57

Haliburton Forest 100 mile Trail September 7-8, 2024 DNF after 65 miles/16 hours

Pick Your Poison 50K Trail April 26, 2025 (59yrs) 6:29:53

Coach D's Backyard May 17-18. 2025 15 Laps - 100 km

Click for Options

Pacing my sister in her 1st Half Marathon.

Short-Term Running Goals:

Now that I'm 60, I'm going to run just for the fun of it this year. I have no races planned. I think I'm done with Ultras, but am open to running more Marathons at some point in the future.

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 32 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 15 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.

Ukraine Can Win With Crowdfunded Drones!

Click to Donate

Miles:	This week:	0.00	Month:	85.80	Year:	932.15
Mizuno Wave Sayonara 2 Lifetime Miles:						412.40
Brooks Cascadia 11 Lifetime Miles:						415.45
Salomon Speedcross 4 Lifetime Miles:						410.65
Brooks Launch 8 Lifetime Miles:						153.00
Asics Metaspeed Sky Lifetime Miles:						32.20
Brooks Ghost 14 Lifetime Miles:						626.85
Hoka Bondi 9 Lifetime Miles:						435.25
Saucony Triumph 22 - Treadmill Lifetime Miles:						218.00
Brooks Ghost 16 - Treadmill Lifetime Miles:						137.95

Sat, Jun 13, 2026

Race: Lookout Trail Race (13.1 Miles) 03:00:21, Place overall: 20, Place in age division: 1

Total Distance

13.10

So, I chose this race because it didn't require me to take any time off. North Bay is a 90 minute drive. Based on last year's results, I was thinking I could run the Half in about 3 hours, giving me lots of time to get back to Sudbury for my Saturday night Mass. Fortunately, I was right.

This is the 3rd year for this race on the North Bay Trails at Canadore College. Pretty technical, with mostly single track, and lots of roots and rocks. One loop is 7km, so you could run that, or twice that, or thrice that (which I did).

The weather turned out pretty much perfect. Around 16C/62F with 83% humidity at the start, and 20C/68F with 69% humidity at the finish. All three loops started at the same time, so it was pretty much looking at the feet of the person in front of you for the first 2 miles or so. Tough, on a technical course. It was much nicer on the last 2 laps when I was alone, when you could see the trail ahead of you.

There is 2,362 feet of elevation on the Half Marathon course, so that just added to the challenge. A significant portion of that comes in 2 significant climbs. The first is a quarter mile distance, and the second just shy of that. On my 3rd lap, I tripped and fell at the top of the climb, just as I was starting to run. Nobody saw it (so no shame) and there was no injury. Just a lot of dirt on me.

Despite my preference to run alone, it should be noted that the mosquitoes and deer flies were a bit of an issue on the 2nd and 3rd laps. I'm thinking that on the 1st lap, there were more bodies for them to choose from.

So, despite having to 'run with the crowd' on the first lap, all 3 laps were pretty consistent. 1:00:03, 1:00:55 (filled up my handheld), and 59:23 (was able to pick it up for the last quarter mile).

All in all, I was happy with my results. Turns out I was 20th of 31 runners overall, and 14th of the 19 males. I won my age division (60-69) only because I was the only runner in that division. In fact, I was the OLDEST runner on the course (ouch). If you drop it to anyone over 50, there were only 3 of us, with one female included. So, I'm guessing this is a young person's game. Still, I came in first in what I'm calling the "Master's Division".

Worst part of the day? Driving the 90 minutes home. It sure would have been nice to be able to walk it off longer. This run club puts on a road race in the Fall. I'm thinking I might run it.

Salomon Speedcross 4 Miles: 13.10

Weight: 159.00

Add Your Comment.

Keep it family-safe. No vulgar or profane language. To discourage anonymous comments of cowardly nature, your IP address will be logged and posted next to your comment.
Do not respond to another person's comment out of context. If he made the original comment on another page/blog entry, go to that entry and respond there.
If all you want to do is contact the blogger and your comment is not connected with this entry and has no relevance to others, send a private message instead.

Debt Reduction Calculator

Featured Announcements

Most Recent Entries:

New Kids on the Blog
(need a welcome):

Lone Faithfuls
(need a comment):