Some veteran runners have proved they are around for the long run.
The Sheep River Racing team, which consisted of 10 members of the Big Rock Runners in Okotoks, won the 40+ division of the Kananaskis 100-mile relay on June 25 in a time of 12:56:23.
The race starts in Longview and finishes 100 miles (about 160k) later along Secondary Highway 561 at the Nakiska Ski Lodge.
“Basically, this is a team that we have had for 20 years-plus with different runners now and then,” said team captain Mark Toombs.
The race was marking a milestone of its own this year, celebrating its 30th anniversary.
This year’s Sheep River Racing team was just 10 per cent away from being in the 50-plus category.
“To get into the 50-plus category, you need to have everybody over 50 — and we had one guy under 50, that was Chad Ruston,” Toombs said.
The oldest runner on Team Sheep River was Jim Cadman at 64 years of age.
Kid Ruston was the reason they got gold. In a clear indication that runners age like wine, had the Sheep River Racing team been in the 50+ category they would have been third.
The Sheep River runners chose their legs, which vary in distance and elevation, like kids choosing positions for a game of pick-up baseball.
“We just took a look at who wanted to do what and who was strong for which legs,” Toombs said. “We just shuffled it around.”
Toombs was more The Love Boat’s Captain Stubing than Captain Bligh. He avoided any mutiny by taking the horrific fifth leg. It’s a leg that has a seven per cent grade in places and 450m-elevation gain over the 17.6km. You’d half expect to have Bighorn sheep that look back and say ‘Are you nuts?’ as the runners go by.
“It was tough,” Toombs said. “I volunteered. I have been running fairly well. I hadn’t ran that leg since 2009 so I thought I was due to run it again.”
One of the more inspiring Big Rock runners was the Larry Swanson, who ran the first leg. Swanson has been battling injuries for several years and is now getting back to his former self.
He recently won his age group in the eight-mile run for the Millarville Run to the Farmers’ Market (his son Aaron won the half-marathon).
This wasn’t the first time a team from the Big Rock Runners have had a team win the 40+ division, they last did it in 2004.
Despite it being more than a dozen years ago, four of the 2016 champions were on the 2004 squad. Those runners were Toombs, Swanson, Tom Hughes and Jos Brinkof. Other runners from 2004 included long-time Big Rock runners Wayne Wiebe, Wayne Gaudet and the legendary Gary Glover.
The 2016 team has veteran legs. Seven of the 10 runners on Sheep River team have run the Boston Marathon.
The Big Rock Runners are a group of runners who meet Saturdays at the Okotoks Recreation Complex at 9 a.m. for a social run.
Don’t let the above marathon-types scare you. The Saturday runners range from walkers to ultra-marathoners. The Saturday runs are social events followed by coffee and laughs afterwards.
The Big Rock Runners organize the Sheep River 5km/10km Road Race every fall. This year’s race is Sept. 10 starting at St. John Paul II Collegiate.
For information about the Big Rock Runners and the Sheep River Road Race go to www.bigrockrunners.com
