Challenge accepted in the name of Terry Fox
Patrick Charlebois was 10 when Terry Fox dipped his foot in the Atlantic Ocean to begin his Marathon of Hope. Thirty-eight years later, Charlebois cites Fox as his inspiration as he attempts 10 marathons in 10 days in 10 cities across Canada, dubbed the Canadian Marathon Challenge.
Charlebois is no stranger to long runs. The married father of four from Trois-Rivières, Que., has competed in the big six marathons — Boston, New York, London, Tokyo, Athens and Chicago — and last year took part in the World Marathon Challenge (seven marathons on seven continents in seven days).
Clearly, Charlebois likes to set big hairy goals. But this one’s a little different from the rest. First, he’s proud to be raising money for the Terry Fox Foundation. But he also wants to add some Canadian flair to marathoning.
“We have the perfect country for this kind of challenge,” Charlebois said.
His journey started May 19 in St. John’s, N.L., where he ran multiple loops around Quidi Vidi Lake. With the exception of Halifax and Calgary, where Charlebois registered in official marathons, he runs loops of routes chosen for their ease and proximity to the centre of the city, where it’s easy to attract attention.
A sub-three-hour marathoner, his goal is to stay under four hours for each of the 10 events, scheduled on consecutive days in St. John’s, Halifax, Moncton, Charlottetown, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina, Calgary and Vancouver. At the time of writing this column, he had posted a 3:16.23 in St. John’s, 3:10.48 in Halifax, 3:12.47 in Moncton, 3:15.20 in Charlottetown and 3:14.45 in Montreal.
“It’s not a competition,” Charlebois said of his runs. “The important thing is to finish all the marathons.”
What kind of preparation does it take to attempt such a huge endeavour?
“The physical part is easy: you run,” said Charlebois, who averaged 160 kilometres of training runs per week. “But the logistics are hard. For the World Marathon Challenge, I just had to write a cheque. For this challenge, I had to organize everything. The routes, flights, hotels — I did it all.”
As comfortable as he is with the training, Charlebois admits it wasn’t easy. The cold Quebec winter made running extra challenging.
And he struggled with knee pain, which he says was the result of changing to a thicker-soled shoe. And just before he kicked off his 10-day adventure, he was diagnosed with Haglund’s heel, an overuse injury that results in a painful bump at the back of the heel. But instead of giving up, he cut a hole in the back of his shoe, ignored the ache in his knee and carried on.
“I won’t be 100 per cent when I run, but my wife said Terry Fox wasn’t 100 per cent either,” Charlebois said a week before his first leg of the challenge.
As any marathoner knows, success comes not just from adequate training, but also from being able to manage the day. And the pain. Charlebois has done a good job of both. He has alternated between two pairs of shoes — Asics one day, Brooks the next — to keep new pain from setting in. And he has worn compression socks while running and tight pants on the plane to improve circulation and promote recovery to his overworked muscles.
But when you’re running 42 km every morning, hopping on a plane every afternoon and sleeping in a different hotel every night, a lot can happen. Charlebois’s luggage was delayed en route to Newfoundland, and he started his run at 4 a.m. in Charlottetown so he could catch an 11 a.m. flight to Montreal to get ready for the next day’s 7 a.m. run.
Keeping on schedule and healthy requires a support staff, which consists of a chiropractor to keep his body in working order, a volunteer to handle the media and Charlebois’s eldest son for moral support.
Massages are plentiful, as are phone calls to the press and selfies with other runners he encounters.
Also key to staying on stride is a nutrition plan designed to fuel and recover. With the help of a registered dietitian and the experience of running the World Marathon Challenge, Charlebois is confident in his routine. A cup of coffee, two Clif Bars and beet juice (60 minutes before the race) are consumed prerun, with fruit his go-to snack while on the run. Immediately after the marathon, Charlebois eats another Clif Bar, which he follows up with pasta for lunch and a high-protein meal for dinner.
Even with all the prep and logistics, not to mention the grind of running 42 km for 10 days in a row, Charlebois hopes others will follow in his footsteps. Seeing Canada from the perspective of a runner is something special. So is starting on one coast and finishing on the other.
And with four loops around the seawall in Stanley Park marking the end of his 10-day adventure, Charlebois hopes his efforts are adequate homage to the young man who started it all.