By CONNIE TABBERT
Editor
OTTAWA — Karen St-Arnaud had a great time participating in her first Boston Marathon.
“It was fantastic,” she said. “It was everything I imagined and more.”
At 48, this is Ms. St-Arnaud’s 12 marathon.
However, if you had asked her as a child growing up in Beachburg if she was going to be a runner, she probably would have said no.
“I wasn’t athletic at all,” she said. “I played outside, but not a lot of sports.”
She was Karen Johnson, daughter of Erma (and the late Glen) Johnson and sister to Sheila Wishart, both of whom still live in Beachburg.
She said, “I was a late bloomer when it came to running.”
Ms. St-Arnaud tried running at 35 and participated in a learn to run clinic. Five years later decided to do a marathon, but thought it was too much and did a half-marathon.
“At 41 I did my first marathon,” she said. “It took me four-and-a-half hours.”
She decided she enjoyed running and would continue to do it.
“Boston wasn’t even on my radar,” she recalled.
As she continued running, she got faster, and for $60 a year, joined the Ottawa Running Club.
“The coach is fantastic,” she said. “His name is Dave Harding. He makes plans for us and we run together. There’s more speed work and hills.”
In 2012, Ms. St-Arnaud broke four hours and the Boston Marathon was in her sight. But, she still didn’t think she was ready for it.
She continued to run, but just for fun.
“In 2015 I became serious again,” she recalled. “I ran hard and got a qualifying time.”
However, so many people registered, that an average time was needed for the Boston Marathon and she didn’t reach that number.
“I was extra-determined in 2016,” she said. “I usually run the Ottawa Race weekend. I hired Coach Dave to give me extra coaching and I worked extra hard.”
With a time of 3:45:56, and a cushion of nine minutes for the Boston Marathon average time, she was in.
She was surprised she made the time, considering training was in cold, damp weather. However, on race day, it was so hot, there were warnings the race might be cancelled – but it wasn’t.
“The heat didn’t seem to get to me and I had a really good race,” Ms. St-Arnaud recalled. “It was all good. I knew I was going to get into Boston. I was so, so excited because for Boston you have to qualify or they take a small number of people who raise money for charities.
“It’s the oldest longest running marathon in the world,” she said, adding, “It’s got all this history and everybody wants to do Boston.”
But then, Ms. St-Arnaud suffered back problems and in November had back surgery. Her neurosurgeon told her she would be able to walk the Boston Marathon, but not run it.
“In January, I began training with a run one minute walk five, building up from there.
“I had to build up quickly, but to make sure there were no injuries, the runs were slow and easy… no hills or speed work.
“I worked my way up to 30 kilometres a week before the race.”
Ms. St-Arnaud figured the race would be a training run for her. She was quite proud of herself when she realized she ran the whole distance. She noted it’s a challenging course as it’s very hilly – compared to Ottawa’s course.
“The downhills shred your quadriceps and the uphills sap your energy,” she said.
She finished with a time of 4:09.37, which was 17,595 overall; 7,033 in her gender and 1,058 in her division.
“I was thrilled with that result, really, really thrilled, considering everything,” she said.
There were four others from the running club who qualified, as well as other people she knew, however she was on her own during this race – except when she managed to pace with another racer.
She met people from all over the world, and most of them can’t wait to participate in the Boston Marathon.
“I’d run with someone for a little while, talking about where you’re from, what race did you qualify at, and next thing, you’re not going the same pace, so you move along,” she said. “You talk to people all along the route.”
Ms. St-Arnaud said this year’s Boston Marathon was special because Kathrine Switzer ran it. It is the 50th anniversary of her first run in 1967 when she was attacked by race director Jock Simple. He was furious that there was a woman running in his race with numbers and he tried to rip them off, she said. She heard Ms. Switzer speak at the expo.
Ms. St-Arnaud said this is a super-organized event and the volunteers are fantastic. There are spectators throughout the route and they are really enthusiastic.
Since the race is point-to-point, she explained the participants are bussed to Hopkinton and then run back to Boston through a qualified route. The route includes the small communities of Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton Lower Falls, Newton Hills, and then onto Chestnut Hill Avenue to Cleveland Circle, Beacon Street, into Brookline, Kenmore Square with one mile to go then follows Commonwealth Avenue and ending near the John Hancock Tower in Copley Square.
“I must have high-fived 2,000 people,” Ms. St-Arnaud said.
There are also people handing out slices of oranges, bananas, bottles of water and Gatorade as well as ice.
When she began the race at 10:50 a.m., it was 18 degrees and sunny. When she finished, it was 23 and sunny. Training throughout the winter, she hadn’t been in any summer-like temperatures yet. It was unfortunate, but many people suffered dehydration, she noted.
“I was lucky,” Ms. St-Arnaud said. “I took in as much water as I could and took in opportunities with the sprinklers. There were fire hydrants opened and I would run through and get soaked, I didn’t care.
“Every time they’d hand out ice, I’d get some and put it under my hat or put it down my top,” she said laughing as she added, “Some of the guys are a bit jealous that we woman have natural ice holders.
“But, it’s important to just keep cool and take in water as you can.”
People were thanking the runners for being there, Ms. St-Arnaud said. They were out there volunteering and cheering for hours and happy that people returned after the bombing, which occurred in 2013.
There is definitely good security and there are many rules about what you could transport to the start line, she said, adding, everything has to be in clear bags.
Ms. St-Arnaud recalled a Minute of Silence while at the Race Expo picking up her race items on Saturday, April 15 at 2:49 p.m. – which was four years since the bombing.
“It’s on everyone’s mind,” she said, adding, “People think about it, but they’re not scared.
“Everybody is mindful of it, but happy that everyone is there and it’s still a great big party.”
The race was on Patriot’s Day, which was Monday, April 17. She said at one time, Patriot’s Day was held on a certain date, but that changed years ago, and it’s now held the third Monday of April. She said the Boston Marathon is the only marathon that has never been held on a Sunday. When it used to fall on a Sunday, it would always be the following day.
Ms. St-Arnaud is a prosthetist/orthotist At AMPOS Orthotic in Ottawa. She designs, makes and fits artificial limbs and braces. She is in Beachburg once a month providing a prosthetic clinic at Ralph Roloff’s office.
“Ralph does orthotics, and we see people for prosthetic needs,” she said, adding, “It saves people driving all the way to Ottawa.”
Prior to returning to the area, Ms. St-Arnaud spent nine years in Vancouver after attending Guelph University and British Columbia Institute of Technology. She is married to Dan and they have no children.
Dan and his brother Mathieu, from Montreal, cheered her on at Mile 17.
“I loved it” Ms. St-Arnaud said of the experience. “I worked hard to qualify. I had to really plan for it. I’d like to try it again, but if you asked me right after the race, I might have said no.”
She has competed in marathons in New York, Miami, Hamilton, France and six in Ottawa. She said in France, they were handing out wine and food every three kilometres.
Ms. St-Arnaud also participates in triathlons and half-irons and for another challenge may do a full iron (swim, cycle and run a marathon).
While husband Dan also runs, he prefers half-marathons.
The couple are looking at possibly competing in an ultra-marathon, which is 56 kilometres, in South Africa in 2018 when she turns 50.
Ms. St-Arnaud said running “is a really good time for stress relief and a chance to clear your head. I don’t think you can stay stressed or upset or mad if you run long enough.”
