RUN TO THE FINISH
Queen City Marathon first-place finisher (women’s full marathon) Dawn Ladds of Calgary nears the finish line of the marathon near the Conexus Arts Centre.
The leaderboard at one of Regina’s most gruelling sporting events is proof that discipline comes with age.
“It’s a distance, I think, that requires a certain level of maturity,” said Calgary ’s Dawn Ladds, 39, who was the top-placing woman at Sunday’s Queen City Marathon.
She said it’s easy to start hard and flame out. Finishing all 42.2 kilometres is, above all, “a mental game.”
Ladds said it’s probably the last marathon she’ll run before she turns 40, while it was Brendan Lunty’s first since turning 40 just a few weeks ago.
“I wasn’t sure I could keep up with the young guys, but I guess I can,” said the Camrose, Alta., runner, who won the full marathon with a time of just over two hours, 44 minutes. It’s the ninth time he’s won the Regina event and it was his 104th marathon overall.
The two were among more than 6,300 who competed in events spread over three days in this year’s Queen City Marathon, which included 10-kilometre, half-marathon and full-marathon races.
The 10-kilometre event featured a Weyburn police officer who ran in full uniform to honour fallen comrades and Regina Mayor Michael Fougere, who decided just this Thursday to compete in what he calls his “favourite run.”
Fougere, who has run long-distance events since he was in his 20s, said he was grappling with bronchitis and pneumonia earlier this year. It took him off his training plan, making him hesitant to compete at all. But he made it through the course — and even won a medal.
“You’ve got to be joking,” he recalls saying, upon being told he placed third in his age group of 60-64 with a time of about an hour and five minutes. “This is the first time I’ve ever got into a category like that — the first time ever.”
He said he’s always impressed with the “strong-willed people” who suffer through all 42.2 kilometres. The Queen City Marathon
Look at the flags here from all the participating countries and provinces — it’s fantastic
has become an “international run” that attracts competitors from across Canada, several U.S. states and countries such as the U.K. and China.
“Look at the flags here from all the participating countries and provinces — it’s fantastic,” he said.
Ladds said it was her first time competing in Regina. She was impressed by the crowd support.
“That’s good motivation,” she said. “In Calgary, my God, we can’t pay people to come out. So that was a lovely surprise.”
But the weather was less welcoming. Ladds said it felt like she was running into a headwind for nearly the whole race.
Lunty said he felt it, too. He also felt second-place runner Tanner Schatz of Saskatoon nipping at his heels.
“He gave me a good run,” Lunty said. “I was trying to lose him for the longest time but I couldn’t.”
Both winners said age has presented new challenges in pursuing their sport. Ladds said working and raising her son as a single mom makes it “daunting ” to find spare time to train.
“You slow down as you get older,” Lunty said. “My life is different now, because my kids are little and that means I’m up at 4 a.m. to run — otherwise it doesn’t happen.”
It’s the energy he feels at the finish line that makes it all worthwhile.
“Everyone who crosses this line has a big smile on their face,” he said. “This is what I love about it. No matter what your time is, this is a huge accomplishment.”