Team Stride & Glide
John Currie
Prince George, BC
Ultramarathons

Vital Statistics
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 160 lbs.
Date of Birth: September 27, 1966

Bio
Place of Birth: Chingola, Zambia, Africa
Citizenship: Canadian as of 1972

Education:

• High School Graduate
• 2 years post secondary education - Human Kinetics & History

Occupation: When not running: Construction work and Part-time student

As a twenty year resident of Prince George, I am absolutely thrilled to be able to represent my adopted hometown at many ultramarathon events. What is an ultramarathon you ask? It is any running race that is 50 kilometers in length or more. One of the most popular race lengths is 100 kilometers. That, I hope will become my specialty, as Canada fields two male competitors at the annual 100km World Cup, and the qualifying time of; 8 hours to run 100kms, is within my pace.

Like most Canadian kids I was introduced to sport quite early in life. My parents had me swimming, playing soccer and a handful of other pursuits, I excelled at some and not so much in others. When I was a teenager I began to focus on football, but due to injuries and work commitments my sport participation became merely for recreation. It wasn't until my late-twenties that I begun to take running seriously. I have been running ever since.

At about the time I started running, my Father lost his battle with cancer, this proved to be the catalyst that would propel me to a real running obsession. Since then I continued to run more and run faster until I was able to go about 150km per week. Over the last three years I have turned my training up a notch. I now run about 250 km per week, unless there is a running event, then that week it is a bit less.

My first marathon was 2002 Copenhagen marathon, which I completed in a pedestrian 3:45:00. Not to be discouraged, I ran a handful more overseas until my most recent marathon time was 3:05:00 at the local "Y" marathon in June. While I was pleased at my time, I was most encouraged by the fact that I had run 40kms the day before the race and 40kms the day after the race. This was the benchmark I was looking for, to tell me if I would be ready to attack an ultramarathon.

I must acknowledge the undying support my family shows toward my running, but my participation in distant running events would not be possible without the tremendous confidence that Stride & Glide Sports has in me. I won't let you down folks!!!

My Column:

July 4th 2005

Well here I go again, another week of carb-loading and tapering. It has become a common theme for me as of late. This weekends Burnco Calgary Marathon will be my fifth marathon in the last 11 weeks. Well to be honest two of those events were ultramarathons ( a 50km race and a 60km one as well). I think my results have been admirable, but best of all I have only a few minor aches and pains to complain about.

The marathon in Calgary should be a welcome change because of the lack of any hills and that is all I seem to be running these days… Although I have not run this particular event before, I am quite certain the course will be lined with supporters, even if the field is not as large or as deep as in Vancouver or Victoria. The trouble with running a lot of marathons up north, are the long stretches of absolute alone-ness (not a word..but you get the gist). It does help to keep the spirits up when total strangers are urging you on, especially when the heat is really wearing you down.

Here is a list of the events I have run lately.

May 7th: Elk/Beaver Lake Ultra in Victoria BC. http://pih.bc.ca
50km 4:05:00 -- 4th

May 22nd: Barkerville Rush Relay-From Quesnel to Barkerville. www.barkervillerushrelay.com
As the only solo participant I managed to complete 4 stages. The first 4 stages were virtually all uphill and went from Quesnel to about 12kms short of Wells. I completed my little solo run in 5:45:59.

June 5th: Prince George YMCA Marathon.
42.2km 3:14:07 -- 2nd

June 26th: Mountain Madness Marathon in Smithers BC
42.2km 3:17:00 - 3rd

I hope to run close to three hours in Calgary, but my real goal is to do well in the Cross Calgary 60km race on August 6th as I prefer the longer distance. I must extend a great big thank you to Shayne and Tuppy for being really supportive lately. You see I seem to keep falling into a sort of post race depression or the doldrums after an event, but a visit to their store always seems to leave me feeling better and freshly motivated.