Joggling the Trapline Marathon in October

Ah, Labrador! That beautiful territory northwest of Newfoundland will soon get what it's been waiting for all of these years (they just didn't know it): joggling! On Oct. 7, 2012, I'm coming to town to joggle the Trapline Marathon. I've never been to Labrador and this looks like a great event that showcases Canada's trading frontier. The marathon route follows a point-to-point course along an old trappers trade route at the mouth of the Churchill River, running from the settlement of North West River (pop. 553) to Happy Valley - Goose Bay (pop. 7,552). And as far as I'm concerned, any marathon that finishes in Happy Valley has to be a good one.

I'll be speaking at the expo the day before the race and giving some joggling tutorials, because really, if you don't know how to joggle, what is the point of life? Check out the details at www.traplinemarathon.com and watch the super-geeky video of me above.

This will be my seventh joggling marathon and unlike most of the others, I won't be going for a Guinness World Record, though I am hoping to run a fast time. It got me thinking that I never actually wrote down all the races I've joggled, so here's a list of the big ones:

1. The Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon (three times, and a world record each time – I like this race)
2. The Boston Marathon (in the 2006 joggling marathon duel with Zach Warren, which I lost)
3. The Salt Lake City Marathon (another duel with Zach, which I won)
4. The Royal Victoria Marathon (I had fun at this one)
5. The Cayman Islands Half-Marathon (ridiculously hot race)
6. The World's Best 10K (Puerto Rico)
7. The Rock and Ice Ultra (Northwest Territories, but OK, I only joggled for about 100 metres)
8. The Montreal Half-Marathon (unofficial half-marathon world record)
9. The Burlington Half-Marathon (soon-to-be official world record)
10. The Around the Bay 30K (unofficial 30K world record)
11. A bunch of other local races  

I'm sure Trapline will be a blast. I might even be so bold as to predict that I will become the first person to ever joggle in the region.

Swuggling Video by Joe Salter

Swuggler, joggler and cycluggler (or buggler? – no, that sounds bad) Joe Salter is training to become the first person to juggle his way through a triathlon. Check out his swuggling training in a pool (with tricks!).

Joggling Bladder

(Image courtesy of Sportszonephotography.ca)

I got the hat-cam hooked up a few minutes before the start of the Chilly Half-Marathon. Michael from vcardtv.com turned it on and the tape was going to be rolling until after I finished. That's when I realized I really needed to pee, but there was no time before the start. During the race, I tried to survey the area for a porta-potty or some woods to duck into, but it's hard to look around while you're joggling. Plus, imagine the surprise of the Guinness World Records judges watching the footage to certify the record, when all of the sudden I duck off into the bushes and – whoa, those aren't juggling balls! Maybe I'd get disqualified? So I ran on, with my bladder joggling for an hour and 24 minutes and 33 seconds.

The Joggler-Cam!

This is what I see when I'm joggling. The video of the Chilly Half-Marathon (below) shows a few clips from the "Joggler-Cam" (and a bit where I teach the mayor of Burlington how to juggle).

Bob Evans Lowers 5K Joggling Record to 16:42

Check out Bob Evans crushing his own world record for the joggling 5K at the Super Kids Sunday event in Long Beach, California. Oh, and he won the race outright. Bob's wife Trish also joggled a spectacular 21:02, not far off her own women's world record of (I think) 20:31. After the race, the couple put on a juggling the unicycling show.

Chilly-Half Marathon 'Official' Joggling Record: 1:24:33

(Image courtesy of Michelle from The236.net blog – note how the fire hydrant and mailbox match my outfit)

Yes, that weird thing on my head there is a camera. I think I set a precedent for the first ever joggling race footage with a head-cam. The videographer told me the footage turned out well, so we'll see. I ended up joggling the Chilly Half-Marathon in Burlington, Ontario, on Sunday, in 1:24:33, which was 44 seconds slower than my best joggling half from Montreal a few years ago. I never claimed that one through Guinness World Records, though, because I didn't have the independent witnesses and video footage that they require to certify it. This time I'll have first-person video of the whole thing, plus witnesses, so if it all pans out, 1:24:33 will be the new official Guinness World Record for the fastest time to run a half-marathon while joggling three objects.

It was great to jump back into the ridiculous world of joggling, as I've been doing mostly "regular" running races lately. Some things I heard along the route:

• "Show-off!" (the most popular among the 5K runners who were passing by in the opposite direction – and might I add that this is not a very motivating thing to hear when you're struggling along trying to race the thing while juggling, with a camera on your head, and in fact, why don't you just punch me in the stomach while you're at it)
• "You're my hero!" (now that's more like it)
• "Don't drop a ball!" (thanks, thanks a lot)
• "I heard yoo speak at the pasta dinner last night, and you're right, I don't want to get beaten by a joggler!" (my favourite line of the day, by a guy running past me, referencing a line from my dinner talk about how other runners hate getting passed by me when I'm joggling)

Conditions overall were pretty good for the race. My hands were freezing off in the first 2K and I dropped a couple of times because my fingers were numb. Winds were gusting for the last 7K or so and my lightweight "racing" beanbags got blown out of reach a bunch of times. I had another seven or eight drops on the way back, which really screwed up my rhythm and focus. The head-cam was actually heavier than I expected, but I don't think it slowed me down too much. I'll post the highlights (if there are any) on YouTube when I get the footage.

Joggling the Chilly Half-Marathon

(Photo: Jamie Lynch)

Can I break my half-marathon joggling record of 1:23:49 at the Chilly Half in Burlington, Ontario, this Sunday? I certainly not as well prepared as I was for the Montreal Half-Marathon in 2009, but I did lose a good chunk of time in that race when I dropped a ball at the start, so it's still possible. I'll probably pace for a 1:20 and see what happens. This is the course where I set my half-marathon PB of 1:11:58 – good karma.