Chasin’ Dreams in Philly

Recently, Athletics Canada announced they’ll be fielding a team for the IAAF World Half Marathon Championship in March of 2016, composed of three women and three men. So far this year, I’ve been able to make some big improvements and run some fast times, so when this was announced, it immediately grabbed my interest. In saying that, I mentioned before that I’d be shutting down the road running season and transition things over to pure Cross Country. Well… I’m young and naive, but at the same time, extremely passionate and ambitious. With this opportunity to represent Canada on the world stage, I’m obviously going to give it a go.

The current selection criteria for this race states that male athletes that have run under 1:06 (females being under 1:16) to be considered for the team. Currently, I sit at 1:07:22 from Canadian National Champs, but with a couple more months of training, who knows what can happen. The qualification window closes on March 7, 2016 and the race takes place on March 26th in Cardiff Wales; so as a Calgarian, training through the winter months will be tough and having a big race in that mix won’t happen. Instead, I’ll plan a training camp somewhere warm and out of Canada. On November 20th, I’ll be catching a plane to Philadelphia to run their half marathon on November 22nd. The competition from previous years has looked strong, so that ultimately made my decision to go there. I’m going to Philly with no time goal, just to do my best and whatever that time may be, I’ll be happy with it. If it books me a flight to Wales, great; if not, I have many years ahead of me.

Over these next two months, I’ll be a little hobbit in my cave; plugging hours away with work, spending time on the roads, and grinding out in the gym. My life is about making sacrifices to chase dreams that no one else can see, except me. I’m thankful for the large support group I have in North America, including my family, friends, and the running community. Without the support of others, I wouldn’t be able to do what I do. So, if you don’t hear from me until December, everything listed above is the reason why.