Everyone is running solo races, even aspiring Olympians and elite ultramarathoners
And the 1904 Olympic marathon makes an appearance!!
Hello,
This issue comes to you with a heavy heart.
As you may know, a tragedy — the biggest mass shooting in Canadian history — took place in Nova Scotia, in a smattering of small fishing towns along the Bay of Fundy. 22 lost their lives.
I grew up in Nova Scotia, in a small town on the Bay of Fundy, just like the ones directly impacted. My family still lives there. And Nova Scotia is so small that while I do not know any of the victims personally, I know several people who do.
My first marathon was in Nova Scotia, the Blue Nose marathon in Halifax, in 2013. I’ve gone home to run the half-marathon many times since. It’s a trip I always look forward to.
But this year, like so many other races, Blue Nose is postponed. I won’t be going home for the the May long weekend. And thanks to the pandemic, I don’t know when the next time I can even go home will be.
Running has given me a reason to go home more often than I used to. It’s given me a way to bond with my family. It’s given me structure, accountability and release during this pandemic.
And now it’s given me a way to process my grief.
This issue is a grab bag of stuff: solo marathons, more cancellations, virtual races. And the 1904 Olympic marathon makes an appearance.
Some people didn’t get last week’s issue. I don’t know what happened, but if you missed it, you can read it here.
Oh and remember last week when I was like “running news is slowing down.” It turns out that was just for the week. This edition is a long one, so if your email client cuts it off, you’ll need to finish it online.
If you want to reach out for any reason, you can email me at runthenorthnews@gmail.com.
Thank you for reading.
Let’s get to it.
— Erin @ Run the North
The 1904 Olympic marathon got some media attention this week
Yes, really.
An old Reddit post went viral on Twitter, highlighting all the ways the race was absolutely bananas.
A few media outlets jumped on the story — either writing new stories or sharing old ones — to say, yes, that post is actually true, and the 1904 Olympics were even crazier than just the marathon.
1904 was a banner year for the Olympics in many respects. It was the first to feature gold medals (previously, silver went to first place, bronze to second, and third went home empty-handed). And it was the first held outside Europe, as the United States hosted the Games in St. Louis. Which sounds great until you remember that it was 1904, and the direct center of this vast country wasn’t the easiest place to get to. In fact, St. Louis was so remote that most countries didn’t bother to make the trip. Only 12 countries participated in the St. Louis Games, and of them, only Germany (22) and Canada (56) sent more than a couple of athletes. A single French competitor participated, and only two each from Switzerland and Austria. (There also may or may not have been one Italian athlete, two Norwegians, and one from Newfoundland, which was not yet part of Canada, but record-keeping was bad enough that this is in dispute.) Of the 651 athletes at the Games, 526 were American.
Smithsonian re-upped their 2012 article about the marathon:
The Olympics’ signal event, the marathon, was conceived to honor the classical heritage of Greece and underscore the connection between the ancient and modern. But from the start the 1904 marathon was less showstopper than sideshow, a freakish spectacle that seemed more in keeping with the carnival atmosphere of the fair than the reverential mood of the games. The outcome was so scandalous that the event was nearly abolished for good.
Ben Preisner time trialed his debut marathon, ran 2:15:24
Ben Preisner was one of several Canadians set to run the London marathon on April 26. It was going to be the 24-year-old runner’s debut at the distance and he had his eye on running an Olympic qualifier: sub-2:11:30 or a top 10 finish.
Since graduating from the University of Tulsa last May, Ben has been tearing up the Canadian road racing scene, winning the Vancouver and Toronto half-marathons last summer.
He was also the top Canadian at the world cross-country championships at the beginning the year, placing 77th overall. He had also been named to the Canadian team for the half-marathon world championships, which were supposed to be at the end of March but have since been moved to October.
And when his spring goal race was cancelled, he did what many runners are doing: he did a solo virtual race. He ran an 10K out-and-back course near Brockville, Ont, with his girlfriend acting as pacer and support on a bike.
Ben talked to Canadian Running about the run:
“It was exactly as planned. I wanted to start at 3:20 per kilometre and work my way down to 3:05 or 3:10. When you’re running solo you can dictate the pace and I hit it right on. It couldn’t have gone too much smoother in terms of split progression.”
He thinks the effort sets him up well for future marathons:
“I was originally training to run a race which would’ve had 40,000 people in it. I knew it was going to be a little bit lonely and quiet. It was certainly a learning experience on the mental side. But just having Vanessa, my girlfriend, on a bike next to me made a huge difference. I think this will make me stronger in my next actual race, whenever that may be.”
The Boston marathon did not happen, people made it special anyway
Lots of stories emerged on Monday from runners making the most of their Marathon Monday.
🚩Toronto’s Richard Kuchinsky ran loops around High Park. Richard, who is known for designing swag for local run crews and races, even made a commemorative logo and merch for the race.
I want one of the sweaters.
🚩A nurse in Boston decided to run her 42.2 on the streets and spell out an inspiration message. It didn’t go quite as planned.
She talked to CBC Radio’s As It Happens about it:
She didn't catch the typo until the very end.
"I pulled up the app and I instantly was like, oh no, I spelled it wrong ," she said.
Despite the initial frustration, Devers is keeping a good sense of humour about the gaffe.
"I think a lot of people are inspired by it. And a lot of people have had some really good laughs," she said. "So I think it's a great comic relief in this stressful period."
(Disclaimer: I saw this story in the Fast Women newsletter last week and sent it to my friend who works at As It Happens. I was thrilled they followed through on it!)
🚩 British Columbia’s Marija Tiani ran her marathon anyway, and decided to turn her solo effort into a fundraiser for Autism Speaks Canada. CBC British Columbia has the story:
When the race was officially postponed last month, Tiani felt she had worked hard for that race on that day and decided to do it anyway, but she wanted to have a purpose.
"For me, it's having something to feel good about in the end," she said.
Her husband mapped out a route on the outskirts of town, heading in and out on different highways.
Supporters set up along the route to cheer her on and supply her with water and Gatorade. When she arrived at the finish line, she had a line to cross, and there were supporters gathered, physically distanced.
These are only three stories from Marathon Monday.
I’m sure there are hundreds more.
The Berlin marathon will not be held as planned, we’re not sure what that will mean
The German government has announced a ban on gatherings of more than 5,000 people until Oct. 24, 2020. This includes the Berlin marathon, which was supposed to be run on Sept. 27, 2020.
The race released a statement saying that it will not take place as planned, but it has not yet announced what that means. It could be a cancellation, a postponement, an elite-only race. I’ll share whatever they announce with you once it’s made public.
It does look like any sort of fall races are less likely with every passing day, especially large ones involving lots of international runners.
The London marathon happening in October is looking dicey, people stepped up for the 2.6 challenge for U.K. charities
Speaking of 2020 world majors, London’s race director Hugh Brasher spoke to the Guardian about the uncertainty of their Oct. 4 race:
“The flame is still burning,” said Brasher. “And is there hope? Absolutely. But you have to do what’s right for society. You usually have 750,000 people out in central London watching 45,000 runners. Then there’s the medics, the 6,000 volunteers and the transport system. There’s masses to take into account when making any decision.”
When asked directly whether the London Marathon – which was due to take place this Sunday before being pushed back – might have to be only for elite athletes if social restrictions had not eased completely, Brasher replied: “Honestly, I don’t know. But in today’s society, you can never say never. We are trying to stay really agile and to keep scenario planning. And at the moment, I don’t want to discount anything until it becomes really impossible.”
The London marathon was supposed to be on Sunday. It’s a huge fundraiser for U.K. charities, many rely on the marathon fundraising every year to survive. To ensure charities survive during the pandemic, the London marathon launched the 2.6 challenge and challenged Brits to do 2.6 or 26 of anything: miles, jumping jacks, squats, and make a donation to a charity.
If you have some time to check out the #twopointsixchallenge hashtag and the London marathon on Instagram and Twitter, it’s worth your while.
It’s a lovely combination of silly, inspiring and impressive, like 260 barrel rolls in a kayak, swimming 2.6K in a backyard pool, air ambulance drivers did pushups on the helipad, kids made the hard sacrifice of going down their slip’n’slide 26 times, someone ran 26.2 miles dressed as a tiger.
It’s not all athletic feats either. One kid agreed to garden for 2.6 hours, another make an impressive 26-block Jenga marble race course, another agreed to be quiet for 2.6 hours, a stylist styled a shirt 26 different ways and modelled them all on Instagram, there was knitting for 2.6 hours.
Even dogs and turtles took part.
Eliud Kipchoge got in on the action and is auctioning off a signed 1:59 pacer kit and his kids biked 5K:
Gary Robbins replicated the Barkley marathons in his garage (well, sort of)
Gary Robbins was supposed to run the Barkley marathons — the brutal five-loop 160K ultramarathon in Tennessee, a race so hard only 15 people have finished it since 1986 — for the fourth time in 2020.
Gary, one of Canada’s best ultra-marathoners, has tried to become of the race’s rare finishers. He had a valiant first attempt in 2016. On his second attempt in 2017, he heartbreakingly came in six seconds after the cutoff time, but from the wrong direction. The following year, the weather was so brutal the race didn’t have any finishers. And in 2019, Gary missed the race because he was injured.
Now, in 2020, he will not get another race to race because of the pandemic.
So instead, he decided to mimic a 160K mountain race with lots of elevation on his treadmill: 30,000 feet of climbing in total.
He streamed the effort live and used it to raise funds for the B.C. Search and Rescue Association.
CBC British Columbia wrote about the race before it started:
Gary Robbins, 43, had planned to go back to Tennessee at the end of March for his fourth attempt at the Barkley Marathons — an infamous 160-kilometre race known for its 60 straight hours of punishing climbs and leg-shredding brambles — but had to give up his dream of finally finishing this year when the race was cancelled due to COVID-19.
"It was really a heartbreaking experience," he said after training all winter for the race. "I had very high hopes."
Robbins said he went into a "funk" for a month after the race was cancelled. He was also forced to cancel a half-dozen races he organizes in B.C. through his company Coast Mountain Trail Running, including the popular Squamish 50 races in August.
But he said he eventually he got through his malaise.
"Life goes on and there are bigger things at stake than a race," he said.
The whole race is up on YouTube.
He completed the run on Sunday afternoon, in 25 hours, 53 minutes and 42 seconds.
Gary was also on a recent episode of the Art and Science of running podcast. You can listen to that conversation here:
We asked Gary how he is able to maintain such presence while ensuring that he is also caring for himself. Gary attributes his ability to be present with his ability to set and maintain boundaries. Especially after the Barkley Marathon 2017, Gary had to learn to say no so that he could continue to say yes to the people and commitments closest to him. In turn, this has enabled Gary to be who he needs to be to the myriad people who want him to be present.
I signed up for the Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee 1000K because why not
I’ve been really enjoying my routine of running the same 10K loop Monday-Friday with a longer version of it on the weekends, with no training or time goals or plan. It’s been an anchor for me during a stressful time, an hour to meditative and care for my physical and mental well-being.
But as someone who is very goal-oriented and results-motivated, this is going to get old soon.
So when I saw the Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee 1000K on Twitter, I figured why not. It’s a virtual race being organized by Lazarus Lake, the evil genius behind the Barkley marathons and several other unconventional ultra races.
How does it work? You have four months (May 1 to August 31) to run the 1000K course. You’ll get a map to update your progress every day. If you make it, you get a medal. Run the 2000K out-and-back version and you get a special double medal. You can sign up at any point in the summer, it just means the window you have to run 1000K is shorter.
There’s a race fee to cover the shirt, medal and administration and it’s also a fundraiser for Feeding America. If you’re interested, sign up here.
Strides: Links worth your time
🚩 As expected, Langley, B.C. will host the 2022 and 2023 Canadian track & field championships. Both editions will serve as world championships qualifiers. The 2020 event was postponed to 2021 and will be held in Montreal.
🚩 Eliud Kipchoge shared his lockdown reading list with World Athletics. It includes Talking to Strangers by Canadian Malcolm Gladwell!
🚩 Reid Coolsaet wrote about training without any races on the horizon for iRun. He, like many of us, struggles with motivation and training partners but is making the best of it:
Figure out what motivates you, set some achievable goals, have a training plan that has a focus and flexibility, have fun and stay safe. Have faith that, eventually, this life without racing will end.
🚩 Coaching group Mile2Marathon has started a podcast. There have been fives episodes so far, including an introductory episode; Evan Esselink and Luc Bruchet — two Mile2Marathon coaches who are aspiring 2020 Olympians — talking about their Olympic dreams; M2M coach Kate Gustafson talking about running in the women’s elite field in the 2019 Boston marathon; and an episode dedicated to the 2013 Boston marathon. Five episodes in and it’s a mix of episodes dedicated to bigger conversations and episodes dedicated to breaking down a single race.
You can listen to the episodes here.
🚩 Citus Mag ranked the top 10 Canadian track and field athletes. It was an episode for their Track & Field History podcast, so if you’d rather listen to this list than read it, you can so do here.
🚩Canadian Running asked teacher and elite marathoner Lyndsay Tessier and nurse and elite marathoner Melanie Myrand to share a day in their life during the pandemic.
The vehicular logjams have always been there, going back to the earliest days of the car, and the congestion has never really abated, despite the gazillions we’ve spent, and continue to spend, on highways. But perhaps the streets shorn of purposeful traffic will finally change us.
Power, as the old saying goes, abhors a vacuum. The people jogging down the middle of the road at rush hour are reclaiming something that, frankly, always belonged to them. We are the city, and the City must now recognize that its residents, hemmed in as they are by this pandemic, are finally staking a claim.
🚩 Athletics Canada is releasing a film called Unbounded, which will look at Reid Coolsaet and Leslie Sexton’s training build to the 2019 Toronto Waterfront Marathon and a potential Olympic berth. We already know how the race went, but I am excited that someone invested time and money into making something like this. Unbounded premieres April 29th.
I’ll write more about it in the next issue, once I’ve seen it. You can watch the trailer in the tweet below.
🚩 The editor-in-chief of Wired, Nicholas Thompson, wrote a great piece about what running means to him. It’s also about his parents’ difficult relationship, his father’s own relationship to running, and Nicholas’s own up-and-down relationships with the sport that began when he was 15. It’s a long piece, but it’s worth your time:
Two years later I went to New York to watch him run a marathon. My parents had divorced by then, and my father had moved to Washington, DC. He had a good job—but he hadn't exactly followed the path of John Kennedy. He was an associate director at the United States Information Agency, which meant he promoted Ronald Reagan's Cold War policies to the world. He lived in Dupont Circle and alternated runs of 12 and 6 miles every morning. He had gotten good. I searched for him in the sea of sweaty people in short shorts coming down the Queensboro Bridge. He spotted me and hustled to the side. I handed him a cup of orange juice and gave him a new pair of shoes. He gulped, laced up, smiled, and hurried along. His goal was to finish in under three hours, and he came close: 3:01:19. I didn't have much sense of how the sport worked—or, for that matter, how physical pain or time worked—and for years I would wonder why he just hadn't sprinted at the end.
🚩Stephen Andersen is continuing his Zoom Q&As with Canadian marathoners. This week we posted his full Q&As with Canadian marathon record holder Malindi Elmore and national marathon champion, Tokyo-bound Dayna Pidhoresky:
That’s it for this week! Thanks for reading.
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Run the North comes out every Monday morning.
Stay safe, run alone, take care of yourself.
I’ll see you next week.