Another guest post:
“My mother knew I’d be active — I started walking at nine months — and the backyard was my first playground: kicking a soccer ball, helping my grandfather push the mower, chasing a golf ball with a plastic set of clubs. Growing up an only child in London, Ontario, two blocks from Greenhills Golf Club, I spent summers playing golf with my retired-teacher grandparents and meeting my mother for lunch on the course. Those mornings taught me practice, patience, community and a love for motion.
Running, though, never came naturally. In elementary school I was willing but not fast; by grades seven and eight I dreaded the 1000m practice during track season. High school cross country changed that — the daily afterschool routine and camaraderie made hard workouts bearable, and I began to crave the structure. I lost touch with running in university as my focus shifted to golf, lifting and academics.
Lockdown in 2020 broke that rhythm. After weeks of binge-watching, I forced myself out for a 5 km run and was shocked at how difficult it felt. That breathless, humbling run was the beginning of getting back to running. While in teacher’s college I started dating my now fiancee, who was deeply committed to fitness, which pushed me to up my training game. Together we trained for the Ottawa Tamarack Half Marathon with a 16-week plan. Crossing that start line in Ottawa in May — hot, nervous, exhilarated — I finished in 1:45 and wanted more. I kept chasing progress: 1:34 at Toronto Waterfront the following October and 2:27 for 30 km at Around the Bay in Hamilton. Each race reinforced a simple truth: small, consistent gains compound.
After moving to the Comox Valley in 2023 I joined CVRR. At a Tuesday night track workout I met Wayne Crowe and, eager to prove myself, blew past my limits trying to keep up with the frontrunners in the workout that night. I paid for it that night, but I’d found a community. CVRR gave me training partners, structure, and friendly accountability — the same elements that turned high school runs into the routine I now rely on.
Running taught me to bet on myself and respect the process: the discipline to show up, the patience for incremental progress, and the value of teammates who push you and laugh with you. That mix of grit and community is what keeps me moving — on the track, on the course, and in life.”
