THE FIXER.
Andrew Peverill, a Saint Mary’s University (Halifax) athlete, had a pretty good 2019. He won three medals, including gold in the 1500m at the aus (Atlantic University Sport) Track & Field Championships. He also got his 1500m time down to 3:45 in the summer and won the aus crosscountry championship in the fall.
And yet, there’s not quite a frustration, but an acceptance that, in the Atlantic region, it’s harder to find competition to improve. Peverill would like to get his 1500m time down to 3:41 but the limited events out east make that hard. “You rarely get a good race to go fast,” Peverill says. “I don’t think it gives me as much of a disadvantage, because I can travel to other meets but it’s definitely a little more work.”
Where it hurts, Peverill says, is on the national scale, because races become more tactical. The lack of key race experience makes it harder for Atlantic athletes to take on battle-tested competitors.
“I like to be the devil ’s advocate, and point out f laws and things that can be done better,” says Peverill.
“My coach said ‘ You like to point out f laws – why don’t you do something about it?’” Peverill says.
Peverill is doing something. He joined the board of directors of Athletics Nova Scotia (where is brother Jonathan is program manager) as an athlete representative for track. They’re hoping to organize t wilight meets and specific events tailored to athletes looking for races where they can run fast.
“With places like Ontario and Quebec, we see these things work,” he says.
Canada’s next stars like Marco Arop and Lucia Stafford; the next generation in the MacDougalls, or the Andrew Peverills who are identifying issues and changing running from the inside, Canada’s running scene is getting set to pass the baton to a new crop of leaders, from far and wide.
Andrew McKay is an editor, data analyst and writer based in Ajax, Ont. In 2020 he’ll run his 3rd Boston Marathon, his 25th overall. He runs mainly because he likes buying shoes.