Running Wild

Amputee truly inspirational

Runners are always looking for inspiration.
While we’re a competitive bunch, there is always much respect given to our counterparts who have done amazing things in the sport.
Whether young or old, male or female, recovering from an illness, there are numerous heros in running.
While it’s easy to be impressed by the collection of professional marathoners the likes of Deena Kastor or Paula Radcliffe, there are countless others who inspire us on a level beyond even the elite.
I had the pleasure of listening to Orillia marathoner Rick Ball speak about running last week.
If I closed my eyes and just listened he sounded similar to any other runner, a list of goals, a passion for running and tips on how to improve.
But with my eyes open, I listened intently as he explained that he set out to run and compete in the Boston Marathon.
Well in his first ever marathon he did. In a time of 3:17:38.
He ran a second marathon in 3:10:11.
For those of you that don’t know, those are impressive times by any measure.
The remarkable thing here is that he has one leg.
He lost his leg in a motorcycle accident and admitted the time following the accident was a depressing time for him, while he tried to cope with being an amputee.
But once he decided to stop feeling down about the whole thing and he focussed on running, this is a guy who refused to have a limitation placed on him.
Armed with a new leg, complete with running shoe tread on the bottom he set out to qualify for Boston.
It’s important to note that runners with disabilities need a time of eight hours to qualify, but Rick wanted to qualify in the able bodied category.
He’ll be running Boston in April but he’s not done with trying to defy the odds.
His next goal is to break the world record for a marathon run by an amputee.
The current record is 3:04 minutes.
What stuck with me more than even his amazing race times were his humility and lack of arrogance, something not always present in running circles.
Not this guy. He came out and ran with us on a snowy night in Thornhill and listened to everyone’s questions.
It’s not often I was rendered speechless, but I was after his talk.
He really demonstrates the adage “the sky’s the limit.”
Since he spoke with us, he’s in my thoughts every time I lace up my running shoes.
He has now inspired me to greater goals.

High performance athletes serve as inspiration

My better half once said to me, “If you want different results, change up your training.”
This came on the heels of me finishing my umpteenth half marathon and being annoyed I couldn’t break the two-hour barrier.
It was getting annoying and I’m sure I was starting to get annoying in turn.
I took what he said to heart and changed things around.
I started running harder in training, pushing my limits more than usual, but still within reason.
I got the result I wanted last fall and then some.
I still hear those words when I start to get in a rut as most people do at one time or another in training.
So this week I finally tried something new that I’ve been meaning to for a while.
A group of marathoners with whom I run workout at York University once a week, doing speed work and tempo runs.
So I joined them this week.
After quickly getting changed, I headed out onto the track.
It smelled like sweat.
Sweat is a normally revolting smell nobody wants to be around.
But not on this night.
The smell of sweat meant something at the track.
It meant hard work and it meant success.
And people were doing some hard work out there.
The facility is massive and there are a few different tracks.
There are young children who look more like gazelles than human beings flying around the track with batons in their little hands.
There was just something about the way one little girl ran that made her look differently than the rest — almost like an Olympian in training or something.
Then, there were some really fast people on their own track. They actually served as a distraction the first few loops I did. They were super fast and under the supervision of none other than Ben Johnson.
It was all so inspiring.
So, in a nutshell, I did some tempo laps and some speed loops and my legs were really happy to be on a rubbery track for once.
It was nice and warm and it was fun to work out in shorts in the middle of February.
But most importantly there’s something about running around a great track that makes you feel like a real athlete.
I’m hooked.

Happier than a pig in Cincinnati

Flying Pig Marathon, here I come.
OK, so I’m not officially registered, as they don’t cap the number of runners, which is a relief, but I do have a hotel booked.
That means something.
Finding a spring marathon I wanted to do was tough this year.
I have a rule that I won’t run the same marathon twice and it can be slim pickings in the spring sometimes.
I did Ottawa last year and loved it.
It really is a great race weekend.
But somehow Mississauga wasn’t calling my name. That’s the other big race here in the spring.
I ran the half there a couple of years ago and while I loved the course, running 42.2 kilometres around Hazel town doesn’t really appeal to me.
So, I had heard that Cincinnati’s marathon, although hilly, is great for crowd support and with a name like the flying pig how could I miss?
I mean, the medal has a pig with wings on his back. How can I miss?
I’m all about the gimmicks.
In my research, I learned that’s it about 16,000 runners over the weekend in total, which is a nice happy number. Not too big not too small.
The race also runs into Kentucky, which seems kind of cool.
The Reds are not in town that weekend, which disappointed me, but I’m sure there’s a lot to do there.
So now I have a reason to go out and torture myself during these cold winter months.
I won’t lie, the race being at the beginning of May also appealed to me because there might not be as much heat and it cuts the training down by three weeks.
It will be No. 4 for me and hopefully a personal best, but you never know what happens in a marathon.
Until I write again, happy running.
For more about the race, go to www.flyingpigmarathon.com