Tag: Roger Robinson

2019 week twenty four

Book Read
24. When Running Made History – Roger Robinson

Kilometres Ran
week twenty four – 41.2

2019 to date: 1,162 KM

I read and wrote about this book last fall just before I ran the Victoria Marathon, after meeting Roger Robinson at Forerunners on West 4th while out on his book tour. (A book tour of running shops, go figure.) What struck me then, and having a bit of a reread now, are the bits about running’s connection with charity.

The impulse among the majority of runners to run for a cause other than, or greater than, their own result has brought measurable enrichment to the work of many charities and thus society.

Roger Robinson

As my personal situation has improved I’ve been able to give back to the arts and culture community, which is easy if you’re able. It’s a lot harder to ask other people to join in. I learned pretty quickly that I’d never make it as a development officer or a fundraiser, and yet I’m currently trying to figure out how to ask my social circle and beyond to support The Capilano Review just because I’m running twenty-one point one kilometres in a week’s time, along with 5,000 other people many of whom are likely asking their social circle to support their charity of choice. While it does seem a bit weird to choose a running race to raise money for a pauperous literary arts organization, it was around the time that I took on their managing editor role that I gave this whole jogging thing a try. So for me, it seems, the two are rather tied. In timeline at least. Since I left The Capilano Review office, they continued to bring me a certain amount of enrichment. I always look forward to the writers and artists that I’ll be introduced to, always exceptionally curated, and often stuff that I wouldn’t otherwise see. If you’re familiar with their work, I hope that you’ll consider making a donation in support of my run next Sunday.

USE THIS LINK TO DONATE

If you’ve never head of The Capilano Review, I hope that you’ll check them out. Maybe attend an event, or purchase a subscription, or just get lost in their massive archive of work that was recently posted online in collaboration with Simon Fraser University Library.

Mile2Marathon train on the track at Swargard Stadium for Chase the Pace at the Pacific Distance Carnival. Photo by Debra Kato.

On Thursday I made my fifth attempt to run five kilometres in under 20 minutes, this time at Mile2Marathon’s sixth-annual Chase the Pace 5,000 on the track at Swangard Staduim in Burnaby. The event was in collaboration with the first Pacific Distance Carnival put on by BC Athletics, Mile2Marathon, and the BC Endurance Project. The evening started with a few 1,500 metre foot-races and a wheelchair heat, then four heats of 5,000 metres with pacers. I registered with the goal to run 19:59, which put me in the 7:55 p.m. heat where I and about 30 others chased three different pacers. The gun went off and I tried to get in behind pacer Laurel Richardson (19:55) but got stuck in the crowd for the first of 12 and a half laps of the 400 metre track. The field started to thin after the first couple laps and I managed to find a rhythm that felt ok but not great. By the eighth lap I’d slipped quite a bit and knew that I probably wasn’t going to be able to catch the pacer. There was a cluster of us that were right on the cusp of 20 minutes and we traded leading a few times. On the second last straight I remember M2M coach Rob Watson telling us we only had about a minute left and to give it hell. I didn’t have much to give but I managed a bit of a sprint coming out of the final turn. Ryan Chilibeck from East Van Run Crew was in front of me and I tried to catch him but he crossed the finish a few tens-of-a-second ahead of me. Perfectly ahead of me, if his intention was to block my view of the clock. Not that it mattered. I knew that I was over 20 minutes. Strava said I ran 5 KM in 19:53 but my Garmin said my run was 20:12. I checked the results board and my official time was 20:10:97. Not near my goal, and third in terms of attempts. It’s not a great result but, unless you count running loops of a park in Paris, I’ve done just two speed workouts since running the BMO Marathon at the beginning of May. While I do feel a bit like it was a missed opportunity, I’m really rather pleased with just how well it went.

With Philip Finlayson (who’d just run a 17:40 5,000) getting ready to cheer on the 10,000 Canadian championships at the Pacific Distance Carnival. I bet he loves this photo by Debra Kato almost as much as I do.

After the 5,000 metre heats were complete, the Pacific Distance Carnival main events got underway, with Canadian 10,000 metre championships. The 25 laps of the track saw Ben Flanagan finish in 28:37 in the men’s race, followed by current record holder Natasha Wodak finishing in 32:09 holding off B.C. 5K champ Sarah Inglis, and Canadian half and full marathon record holder Rachel Cliff. The whole event was a lot of fun both to participate and to watch. I look forward to next year.

2018 week forty

Book Read:
46. When Running Made History — Roger Robinson

Kilometres Ran:
week forty — 56.8

To date: 2,161 KM

I had the pleasure of getting to meet Roger Robinson when he and wife Kathrine Switzer were touring When Running Made History and made a stop in Vancouver at Forerunners on 4th (and the following night at the Main Street location). The book could be considered semi-autobiographical, although I’m not sure that Robinson would characterize it that way. The book chronicles some of the pinnacle moments in the history of the sport, with the caveat that Robinson only includes those events that he was physically there to witness, or participate in. It’s a great book not just for the compiled history of the sport, but because Robinson, also an emeritus professor of literature, is a pretty great writer. I found the book inspiring as I stared down my racing my second marathon this weekend in Victoria.

It did not go well. Well, it did not go according to plan. The plan was good: open with 3K at 4:44/KM then 4:40/KM to kilometre 14, 4:37/KM to kilometre 28 and then the final third at 4:33/KM for finish time of 3:14 give-or-take and a slight negative split. And it was going well at 10 KM I was on plan to the second. I had some pacing consistency issues (as usual) and hit midway off by only half a minute, but Victoria’s rolling hills and the not so great conditions, not to mention my not so great condition, really started to take their toll. By the time I reached the final hills at 36 KM I was done and there was no recovery. All that was driving me was to finish without walking and not get passed by the 3:30 pacer.

Glove toss photo by Stephanie.

I went into this marathon with three goals. First, to run a Boston Qualifying time of sub 3:15 for my age group. Second, to beat my first marathon time. And third, to finish without dying. The first was admittedly really ambitious. Perhaps too ambitious. Perhaps I had a bad day, or perhaps in my current condition I am not a 3:14 marathoner. I know my training was better overall than my first attempt at 42 KM, but I did not come out of training feeling the confidence I felt before my first attempt. Part of that was, and is, the fact that I had no business running a marathon yesterday with my knee in the condition that it’s currently in. Some thirty six hours of icing, epsom salt bath and copious anti-inflammatories later it looks more like a football than a knee and I can still barely walk on it. It was dumb. Pride is dumb. I won’t say that I won’t do it again but it wasn’t smart.

I passed the 3:30 pacer on the mid 20 kilometre out-and-back section of the course. I still recall the slapping sounds as his feet hit the wet asphalt in the rain. For the next 18 kilometres I listened and dreaded hearing that slapping coming up behind me. It never came. I finished my first marathon in 3:34:40 and this time, with experience and sobriety on my side I was determined to beat that time. A funny thing happened along the way. Although I faltered hard at 36 KM, when most people hit the wall I didn’t want to quit. I knew I wasn’t going to come close to 3:14 but I also knew that I’d finished once before, and I would do it again, and I’m definitely better now, even running with an injury, than I was running hungover. I kept listening for the slapping feet behind me but they never came. I crossed the finish line at 3:25:59 for a new personal best. I beat myself by 8:41, which I think it pretty great. Now to recover, get healthy, and get back to chasing my BQ.