You don’t have to run with the best.
Driving to work last Wednesday, I saw David Proctor running down Highway 2A, en route to Claresholm from Okotoks. The next day he ran from Claresholm to Lethbridge. After that short jaunt, on Saturday/Sunday he won the Lost Souls Ultra 100-mile ultramarathon in the ‘Bridge (who would have ever thought they would have to put “ultra” in front of the word “marathon?”).
It kind of made my thoughts of running 5K or 10K for this Saturday’s Sheep River Road Race in Okotoks look a bit wimpy.
Not so, according the running nut Proctor.
“Just get out there and utilize your body,” Proctor said. “Just get out there and know that you can extend yourself — go from 100 yards, to 2K, to 5K to 10K to 100K to 7,200K.
“Running is just about bettering yourself and maybe bettering the world around you.”
Oh yeah, the 7,200K bit. Proctor announced on Sunday he plans to run across Canada in 2018 to raise money for rare diseases research.
Part of his support group will be the Gaudets, Trish and Wayne, who have helped promote running in Okotoks for years. In fact, Wayne is a former race director of the Sheep River Road Race,
Next year, he will gleefully help feed Proctor and wash sweaty clothes, maybe in Blind River.
Both Proctor and Gaudet insist running is about smiles, not miles.
“It’s about putting one foot in front of the other and enjoying yourself,” Proctor said.
For information about the Sheep River Road Race go bigrockrunners.com
