Danny Kassap Recovering in Berlin Hospital

Canadian marathon runner Danny Kassap, a big inspiration to me in the early days of my running, collapsed 5K into this past Sunday's Berlin Marathon with a heart arrhythmia. James Christie wrote a piece about it today on globeandmail.com.

Alex Hutchinson wrote a feature article about Danny in our premiere issue of Canadian Running Magazine, and we've all been worried sick about him. The latest news sounds promising. Get well soon, Danny.

Scotia Toronto Waterfront Marathon

(Photo by CRS Staff)

It's true: I'm faster with balls. I ran the Toronto Waterfront Marathon this past Sunday in 2:53:59, and I wasn't juggling, pushing a stroller or running backwards. I didn't set a world record. I was 24 minutes off my personal best. But I did finish the race, which was an accomplishment for me this time around because I didn't almost no training, and completed no training runs longer than about 10K.

As Perry pointed out to me, though, I did set a PB for a costume marathon. I ran the race dressed as 1907 Boston Marathon winner Tom Longboat, as part of a thing the race put together to celebrate 100 years of the marathon distance. Two others travelled all the way from Carpi, Italy to run as Dorando Pietri (who won the 1908 Olympic marathon, but was subsequently disqualified for being helped across the line). They also brought the cup the Queen presented to Dorando in honour of his achievement. Two guys dressed as Johnny Hayes, the official winner of the 1908 race, did the marathon, and brought Hayes's original Olympic gold medal, which I got to hold for a bit (wow!).

I should point out that I did not run in 1908 footwear, but instead opted for my trusty Reebok 3D Lites.

Joggling the Longboat 10K, again

This year, the Longboat Toronto Island races were held later in September so as not to coincide with the Virgin Festival. It was a perfect day for running -- fairly cool and overcast, with a nice breeze. I joggled the 10K in an attempt to break my own record of 36:27. I was on pace, but had to stop and tie my shoelace around the halfway mark, finishing in 36:50.

This Sunday, I'm racing the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon (no joggling this time) dressed as Tom Longboat. I haven't done any long runs, so the results could be disastrous.

Waw Velomobile in Vancouver

Here's a video of Alan's Waw velomobile speeding through the streets of Vancouver. He has a very nice advertising wrap for the Hostelling Association:

More Photos from the Canadian Running Magazine 5K Joggling Duel

All photos by Adrienne Stewart (thanks Adrienne!)

Race splits

Inside Toronto coverage of 5K joggling race

Photo/BRENT LEWIN/INSIDE TORONTO

Here's a photo on Inside Toronto from the Canadian Running Magazine 5K Joggle-off. And the caption:

Michal Kapral (a.k.a. The Joggler), left, and Simon Hodge (a.k.a. The Eco-Joggler) join the recent Canadian Running Magazine 5-km race at Varsity Stadium. The joggling duo fell short of reaching a world record time for running/juggling 5 km.

5K Joggling Race Splits

I'm too busy to write a proper report right now, but here are my splits from the 5K Joggle-off, according to my friend George:

Lap Time Cumulative
1 80.42
2 80.54
3 80.27
4 79.57
5 80.89 6:41.69
6 80.43
7 80.86
8 83.08 10:46.06
9 84.64
10 86.67 13:37.39
11 89.29
12 83.56 16:30.24
12½ 35.76**

** All of your splits were accurate except the last ½ lap (estimated, because it was on the opposite side of the track)

Pictures to follow soon.

I had a bit of a lapse in laps 10 and 11. I'm kicking myself now for slowing down. Now I'm all fired up to try again. Simon had a couple of friends pace us for 80-second laps, which was a huge help. The guys staying right on pace through 4000m, then pulled aside as planned for us to finish it up on our own.

Simon dropped five times, and surely would have broken the record with a drop-free race. I didn't drop, but didn't run fast enough. Thanks to everyone who showed up to spectate, and to Canadian Running Magazine for sponsoring the event. It was so much fun to joggle on the Varsity track.

Next up: Running the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on the Tom Longboat team. The race is celebrating 100 years of the marathon distance with teams of runners dressed as Tom Longboat, the Toronto runner who was favoured to win the 1908 Olympic marathon in London, Dorando Pietri, who crossed the line first but was disqualified for being helped across the line, and Johnny Hayes, who won the gold after Pietri's disqualification.