ST COAS FIR T TO COAST
In 1971, a 17-year-old running-obsessed kid decided to spend his summer vacation becoming the first person to run across Canada. This is the untold story of an adventure with a shoestring budget, rattlesnakes, motorcycle gangs and being seven weeks late for fall classes.
When Mark Kent ran across Canada, he did it on a diet of Carnation Instant Breakfast and orange-f lavoured Tang. It was 1974. Energy gels and protein bars didn’t exist. The Nike Waff le Trainer had just been released. Highway signs were in miles per hour. Tim Hortons had only 40 locations.
“Nowadays you’ll find a Tim’s at every corner,” Kent remarks. “But back then, it was impossible to find food along the Trans-Canada Highway.”
The 17-year-old high school student rounded out his diet with an estimated 791 oranges and nearly 2,000 vitamin pills. Whenever he passed through a city or town, he filled up on steak and potatoes.
“I only had 7 per cent body fat, and my doctor warned me not to lose more than 10 pounds. So I ate as much as I could and I weighed myself four times every day. I usually lost five pounds during the day and put it back on at night.”
Mark Kent wanted to do something different. Something that had never been done before. He decided to run across Canada. “Back then, running wasn’t very popular,” Kent says. “But I just loved it. I thought it would be a great way to see the country. And I loved the idea that I’d be the first. I was really drawn to the idea that nobody had done it before.”
Kent also wanted to do something meaningful. That’s why he chose to run in support of the Canadian Olympic Association. The Association helped fund aspiring Olympic
athletes, which Mark considered himself to be. He dreamed of competing in two years time in Montreal.
But there was a hitch. Kent’s parents – initially, at least – weren’t thrilled with the idea.
“They couldn’t figure out why I’d want to run across the country,” Kent explains. “I think they assumed I’d forget the whole idea by the start of the summer break.”
That didn’t happen – t hanks in part to Lloyd Percival. Percival was a celebrated sports coach and f itness expert and when he learned about the young track star’s plans, he put Kent on a rigorous training schedule. Suddenly the 135-lb. athlete was lifting weights and going on 70-kilometre training runs.
“My Dad had doubts until I took an oxygen uptake test,” says Kent. “That proved I was fit enough.”
Kent scored 7 7, which was off-the-charts. nhl players, by way of comparison, typically scored about 55. Percival declared Kent physically and mentally prepared to run across the country. His parents came on board. And Kent embarked on the adventure of a lifetime.
Kent began his run in Victoria on Friday, June 28, 1974. He carried letters from Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau and Ontario Premier Bill Davis, which he planned to deliver to the respective premiers of every province as he jogged through the capitals.
After an official send-off by B.C. Premier Dave Barrett, Kent ran the 30 kilometres from Victoria’s legislative buildings to the ferry, which took him to the B.C. mainland.
“Those first three or four days were the hardest,” Kent recalls. “Just running out of Vancouver, it all seemed so daunting. It was a ‘what have I done?’ sort of feeling. But once I got into the Rockies, things actually got better. It was so beautiful there; I didn’t even mind the hills.”
Kent was joined by his brother Gordon, who led the way in a wood-panelled station wagon. High school buddy Kevin O’Brien rode a bike beside Kent to keep him company.
Kent averaged 65 kilometres a day. He got up most mornings at 7 a.m., and ran four 16-kilometre sections. At 7:30 p.m. the crew would find a campsite and sleep.
As he headed towards the Prairies on the mostly empty and exposed Trans-Canada Highway, Kent found his daily rhythm. “I absolutely loved it. The only sound was the wind and my running