Canadian runner on the comeback trail
Levins, who medalled at the Commonwealth Games, set to attempt first half-marathon
TORONTO— Canada’s Cam Levins was famous for his extreme mileage, running three times a day and covering as many as 300 kilometres a week.
But around this time last year, the 28-year-old from Black Creek, B.C., was limited to five minutes of running, every few days.
Levins is rebounding from foot sur- gery that sidelined him for virtually all of last season, and will make his half-marathon debut at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon on Oct. 22. It’s another step toward his goal of running a full marathon next year, and part of a long road back to full health.
“It was definitely tough going from essentially pretty good fitness and full mobility to having surgery and being stuck on crutches and unable to do anything. And then starting back running, running five minutes at most, that was very, very difficult for me.
“It’s definitely nice to be where I am now and I know I still have a ways to go, but I’m having a good time being able to (run) at all. In some regards, this is a reset button on my career.”
Levins won the 5,000- and 10,000metre titles at the NCAA championships in 2012, won bronze in the 10,000 metres at the 2014 Common- wealth Games, and set the Canadian 10,000-metre record in 2015.
But at the 2015 Canadian championships, he fell at the finish line of the 1,500 metres when another runner plowed into him from behind. The nagging injury bothered him for months, and then tests on his foot in the summer of 2016 revealed a torn peroneal tendon, stress fractures in his navicular and talus bones, a bone spur and bone chips.
Recovering from surgery, he barely watched the Rio Olympics.
“The Olympics were difficult for me, just being in the situation where I was like ‘I’m on crutches, I can’t do anything,’ ” Levins said.
He was finally able to resume running — in frustrating five-minute spurts — in November.
Levins won the Canadian 5K road racing title last month in Toronto. He is using his half-marathon debut more as a chance to learn about at least part of the marathon course ahead of next year, and an opportunity to qualify for the world halfmarathon championships
“If I end up feeling good and push a little bit faster, then that’s great,” he said.