Okotoks marathoner sets speed record for running across Canada & More Trending News – UP Jobs News

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Dave Proctor said it only cost him two blisters to become the fastest man to run across Canada.

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But that doesn’t mean hoofing the width of the world’s second-largest country in 67 days, 10 hours and 27 minutes didn’t exact a toll.

“My feet felt like hamburger . . . I’m a little worried about my right foot — I really did punish my joints, soft tissue and neuro systems,” said Okotoks resident Proctor, 41.

“You kind of put it away while you’re doing it, but I’ll have to go see my physical therapist. It’ll take time to bounce back.”

Even so, the rewards of besting the record set by Al Howie in 1991 by five days and simply finishing the 7,159-kilometre challenge last Thursday in Victoria are that much greater, said the Albertan.

“You’re so happy you don’t need to get up and run tomorrow morning but, at the same time, you don’t want it to end — you feel so powerful and capable because you know you’ll never feel this good again in your life,” said Proctor.

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Proctor set off May 15 from St. John’s, N.L., at the Terry Fox monument.

Not only was the Okotoks marathoner inspired by Fox, like him, Proctor was forced to abandon a bid to traverse the entire country due to a medical issue.

In 2018, after embarking from the West Coast, Proctor abandoned his run in Winnipeg because of a herniated disc.

“I learned a lot of lessons on what to do and what not to do,” he said.

“I wanted to leave everything on the Trans-Canada, but you don’t want to be too greedy and up in the hospital — it’s a big, big country.”

It’s a country that consumed nearly 12 pairs of shoes and 9,000 calories a day from Proctor who dug deep, typically running 10 km/h and 105 km daily.

“It was lot harder than I had imagined — through the rain, the wind and the heat,” he said, adding the toughest sections weren’t in Alberta’s or B.C.’s mountains, as many would expect.

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“(The mountains) are tough but the length and steepness of the pitches in Ontario and Newfoundland were the hardest — the Canadian shield is vicious, followed by Newfoundland,” said Proctor.

Throughout his ordeal, Proctor figures he climbed 48,000-metres’ worth of elevation, or the equivalent of five Mt. Everests.

Fuelling that effort was a calorie- and carb-heavy diet, said Proctor, with no thought of grazing on greens.

“I didn’t eat one salad, you can’t waste time on that — it’s more perogies and sausages. We ran from bakery to bakery across the country,” he said.

A culinary highlight was being handed a feast of widely coveted cheese buns from Calgary’s Glamorgan Bakery as he made his way through the city on the back end of his journey.

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And arriving in the Calgary area was an emotional moment to be savoured by itself, said Proctor.

“Seeing the city skyline, it brought me to tears because I’ve come home, ‘but I’ve also got to leave now,’ ” he said.

But the moments of wonder amid the agony of persevering for more than two months were many across a country whose beauty was as constant as his sweat, said Proctor.

“Running past the canola fields early in the morning, the sunrise over the Canadian landscape, the St. Lawrence — everywhere is spectacular,” he said.

“There’s not one area of Canada I would say, ‘no, I wouldn’t go back there.’ I feel more Canadian than I ever have.”

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Twitter: @BillKaufmannjrn