Last in a series...
If there was a publishable word for that moment when you realize a once-great idea is now edging closer to terrifying, I would use it.
Hot off the heels of whittling down my time to run the 5-km portion of a triathlon (with my cycling brother and swimming sister) and full of hubris, I giddily signed up for the Terry Fox Training Run on April 4. I picked up the training pace, carefully adding more mileage to be ready for the 16-km route Fox used to prepare for the Marathon of Hope, and studied the route map online.
But a persistently sore hamstring has dogged my efforts over the last couple of weeks and, well, let's just say I haven't seen much past 12 km.
And then, in taking photos of the permanent signs marking Fox's route through the Tri-Cities, I noticed something: hills. Not big ones, mind you, but enough of a rise to make someone who treasures the DeBoville Slough trail for its flatness a bit concerned.
Someone who is definitely not concerned is Mike Kingston, the hapless Tri-City News production manager who was coerced into joining me on the run and who opts to run up mountains twice a week. For fun.
He has continued his training and hill climbing steadfastly with his running club, though he admits the gruelling two-hour-plus trip up and back down Bear Mountain in Mission a couple of weeks ago was "a little bit exhausting."
Neither the hills nor the distance is enough to give Kingston second thoughts about Saturday's run so I turned to another source hoping for some sympathy: Terry Fox secondary school's Leadership 11/12 class, members of which are said to be gearing up to participate in the event.
Turns out, however, that the energy and enthusiasm of youth do not extend to running 16 km at 7:30 a.m. on a Saturday (go figure). What they are keen to do is volunteer, and many of them will be marshalling runners along the route and cheering everyone on with as much hooting and hollering as possible.
"I'm really interested in seeing his training route," said Grade 12 student Kurtis Rushworth.
As students of Fox's namesake school, they know well the Marathon of Hope story: Terry Fox, PoCo Hometown Hero, started with a toe dip in the Atlantic Ocean on April 12, 1980 and proceeded to run a marathon every day for 143 days to raise money for cancer research; his plans to run across Canada were interrupted on Sept. 1 when the cancer that had returned made him too sick to continue.
But what they didn't know was that Fox ran more than 3,000 miles in training for over a year before he left for the east coast.
"It's unthinkable," said Taylor Ward, also a Grade 12 student, adding later that one of the biggest lessons students learn from Fox's story to apply in their own lives is perseverance and that, no matter how challenging school and work can get, "you have to keep pushing through."
Recognizing that he was about to embark on a difficult challenge, both physically and mentally, Fox used a training journal to record his progress, setbacks, bumps and bruises - and even what he ate for dinner.
He also wrote himself "pep talks," said his younger brother, Darrell Fox, whether it was committing to getting through the next several days of running or expressing pride in the goals he'd met that day.
"He's constantly motivating and challenging himself in that journal, so you can just imagine what's going on inside, what he's not writing down," Darrell Fox said. "Where Terry was unique was that ability to self-motivate, that's something he was quite gifted at, I think."
As important as motivation is preparation, said Port Moody Runner's Den owner Paul Slaymaker.
When it comes time for the runners to rouse ourselves out of bed early Saturday, that will mean dressing in layers to be ready for different weather conditions, bringing our own nutrition for an extra energy boost along the way and being ready to run a steady pace with some walking breaks if needed.
The Runner's Den will have a strong showing on Saturday with members of its half-marathon and marathon clinics doing double duty by enjoying the inaugural event and logging a long training run at the same time (the marathoners will likely put in four miles before the start of the 10-mile Training Run, Slaymaker said) to prepare for the BMO Vancouver Marathon on May 3.
But what to do when the motivation begins to falter and the preparation hasn't gone as planned?
Slaymaker said there is an easy source of inspiration at hand: Terry Fox.
"When you're thinking you're getting tired, think of what Terry went through, either in his training days or running a marathon every day," he said. "It will be so inspirational to follow in his path. And anybody who finds it difficult just has to persevere like Terry did, and they'll come up smiling."
@spayneTC
THE TERRY FOX TRAINING RUN
The Terry Fox Training Run tomorrow (Saturday) celebrates the 35th anniversary of the Marathon of Hope and will follow the 16-km Tri-City route Fox used to train for his cross-country trek.
It will take runners from Westwood elementary school (3610 Hastings St., PoCo) down to Chilcott Avenue, back up to Patricia Avenue, north on Pipeline Road and west on Guildford Way, out to Ioco Road at April Road, back on Alderside and Glen Drive, looping out around Maple Creek middle school and finishing back at Westwood.
The run begins at 7:30 a.m. and, for those looking to sleep in a bit, the sign dedication ceremony gets underway, also at Westwood elementary, at 9:30 a.m.
A community walk will then take the crowd on a short tour of a couple of nearby points of significance - the Morrill Street home where Fox grew up and the track behind Maple Creek middle where he first learned to run with his new prosthesis. Both are within a few blocks of the starting point and are suitable for all ages.
For more information, to donate or to register for the run (there is no fee to participate), visit www.terryfoxtrainingrun.com. Registration is also available at the event, starting at 6:30 a.m.
Commemorative t-shirts can be purchased online or at the event for $35.
@spayneTC
PHOTO COURTESY OF ED LINKEWICH/TERRY FOX FOUNDATION
