MILITARY MARATHONER
MacLellan to tackle world military marathon in Italy
Glace Bay soldier set to run in Turin, Italy.
Cpl. James MacLellan knows a thing or two about grueling races.
The Glace Bay native took top spot in the 2015 CFB Petawawa Ironman race in Petawawa, Ont., winning in a time of five hours, 12 minutes and 59 seconds. The 50-kilometre race included a 32-kilometre run while wearing a 40-pound rucksack, combat boots and pants. He also lugged around a canoe for four kilometres, paddled the same canoe for eight-kilometres, and capped off the brutal exercise with a six-kilometre run to the finish line.
So the upcoming World Military Marathon Championship should be a walk in the park, right?
“I wish,” the 29-year-old said with a laugh. He’s currently posted in Oromocto, N.B.
MacLellan will tackle the 42-kilometre marathon race on Sunday in Turin, Italy. Minus the ruckpack and canoe of course.
He’s a member of the Canadian contingent selected to compete at the event. Four men and four women with the top times among military athletes were chosen to compete.
He qualified after posting a strong time at the Fredericton Marathon in May. He finished sixth in the men’s race in a time of 2:42:11.
Last month, MacLellan made the trip home to take part in the Cape Breton Fiddlers Run and took first place in the men’s half-marathon race in 1:14:37. “I know Justin (Lalanne) won it a year before and I’ll do runs with him,” said MacLellan. “I knew he was doing it and he’d be around 1:17. I did a half on my own before and was at 1:16, so I thought I had a chance at winning it, but you never know who shows up for races.”
As for his upcoming race in Turin, MacLellan is just looking to beat his time from Fredericton.
“I’m just going go as fast as I can, but I’d like to go under 2:42, that’s my goal,” he said. “Somewhere under there would be nice.”