Another guest post:
“Bent Harder came to Canada from his native Denmark in 1951, a single man in his mid twenties. Ten years later, he had settled, with a wife and children, in the Comox Valley, where he founded and ran an insurance business.
An active man who loved boating, skiing, cycling, and many other sports, he took up marathon running in his late forties, both to lose weight and to relieve stress. A pioneer of distance running in our valley, Bent was the second president of Comox Valley Road Runners, from the early 1980s until 1989.
Bent was also a leader in philanthropic endeavours, generously giving of himself with Rotary, and the Comox Valley Community Foundation.
In his fifties, Bent ran 3:22 at the Royal Victoria Marathon. I don’t know whether or not this was his best time at the distance, but it is indicative of talent and dedication.
An adventurous individual, Bent solo skydived to celebrate his 80th birthday, and cycled, with his sons, from Bruges to Amsterdam to celebrate his 90th.
I had the good fortune to meet him on several occasions, and found him to be an enthusiastic conversationalist, especially when we compared our running exploits in the “good old days”.
We lost Bent in 2021; he was ninety-four.”
