Running in the foothills has led to a former foothills area athlete reaching the top of masters’ podium.

Helly Visser, 76, was inducted into the Canadian Masters Athletic Sports Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Toronto on July 17.

Helly Visser, here running in a meet in Kamloops, B.C. was named to the Canadian Masters Athletics Sports Hall of Fame on July 17.

Although she has earned national acclaim, Visser credits her rural routes for her success.

“I think part of what made me successful was running in the hills in Millarville,” said Visser. “On Sunday I would run up the hill and then go through the park (Brown-Lowery),” Visser said. “It is such a great place to run.”

Visser lived in the Millarville area for approximately 25 years before moving to Calgary two years ago.

She is still a member of the Square Butte Ladies Club in Millarville.

Visser started running recreationally when she was 50 years old. It was while taking a class with the ladies club in Millarville she decided to up the ante.

“I was taking a fitness class with the Square Butte Club and had been running for a while when someone said: ‘why don’t we try entering a race’ and I found out I was competitive.”

She was not only surprised to find she was competitive in regards to the clock, but also mentally.

“I had never been a competitive person,” she said with a laugh. “I was a kindergarten teacher and they can’t be competitive. I found out when I run, I have a competitive drive.”

That competitive drive led to world and North American records ranging in distances from 100m to 21km.

Visser competed in the World Masters championships in 1995, the first time she had ever ran on a track. She wound up winning the gold medal in the 1,500m and the silver medal in the 5,000m when she was 62.

She had already proven she was first-class in running on pavement when she rolled the dice and attempted her first half marathon.

“I was 62 and I was thinking of trying to run a half-marathon, just to see if I could do it,” Visser said. “I did it in one hour and 36 minutes which was a North American record for my age at that time.”

She said her proudest moment was setting a world record in the 4×400m relay for women between the ages of 70 and 74 two years ago at a meet in Calgary.

Her team of Diane Palmason, Louise Reed, Mary McCarron and herself had been disqualified at the Canadian Masters championships approximately two months before, however, they were still intent on setting the record.

“We really wanted the world record,” Visser said. “There was a meet in Calgary so we phoned Diane and asked her to come out from Comox to give it a try.”

They ran it in a time of 6:12.35.

“I think that will be a record that will stand for quite a few more years,” she said.

Visser and Palmason were reunited on July 17 when both were inducted into the hall of fame.

Visser said she plans to run for quite a few more years, but she regrets no longer being able to run in the Big Rock Runners’ Sheep River Road Race on Labour Day in Okotoks.

“Oh I have ran that race lots of times,” Visser said. “I used to run with the Big Rock Runners quite a bit. They have a lot of good runners and are really friendly to run with… They are an amazing group.”

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