Last night CGP, Ken Webb, another Ken(raw food) and I arranged to meet the E&N from Duncan. Al was invited, by Harriers Joanne Cowan to stay the W/E in her Goose-side B&B (Cycle-inn).
I hadn't seen Al since the Harriers 8K, back in '99 -I think, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Yes he is thin, yes he still wares glasses. He and I talked at length about the days when he was one of the best Multi-day event runner in the World, and how he ran accross Canada faster than anyone will ever do it again (want to try?).
I also asked him if he was happy in Duncan....I think he would be way better off in Victoria.
I asked him if he would be my coach, and he said that maybe. He couldn't understand my half assed attempts to compete as an Ultra-marathoner. I explained that although running is the most important thing in my life at the moment, and that I was trying to do ten hours a week of running, I was still happy with my results. He understood that I needed more hours to stay in the low digits in the results consistently.
I had to explain to him the JOY of running over the need to win. He was not convinced on that one, but, hey, he is old school and always will be. Maybe I can win him over to my side of the fence.
I Love This Sport!
PS I took some pics. e'me at
czc@shaw.ca and they're yours. My geeky son is too busy playing "Lego Star Wars" to help me tonight!
Comments
Al Howie
Hey Carlos,
Please say "howdy" to Al for me. 'Hell of a guy. I've not seen him since the Sri Chimnoy 24 hour track run at Oak Bay about 10 years ago. I wanted a fast 100K team qualifier so I came, ran my 100K, hit the hot tub and went home. It was blowing and raining so hard when I left the track that you couldn't stand up straight. Al was still running.
I remember having a well-earned pint while watching the X-Files back in Vancouver that evening and thinking, "Al's still out there running." I thought the same thing the next morning when I got up and brewed myself a coffee.
That was a short run for Al. I'm not sure if it's an urban myth or not, but I heard Al ran from his home in Victoria, BC down to Sacramento for the Helen Klein 6-day race, ran the race and then ran back home.
I think Al still owns the record for running across Canada. (73 days?) You might want to ask him.