At 56-years-old, Paul St. Amant isn’t about to slow down.
Just 12 years after completing his first marathon in Regina, SK in 2007, the Bonnyville runner crossed the finish line on his 50th marathon this summer in Dawson City, YK.
“Being the 50th marathon, it was a pretty big milestone,” recalled St. Amant. “It wasn’t really anything I thought about… It just happened to be my 50th in Dawson City, so it was extra special. It’s a very tiny event, only about 10 runners in the marathon. There were half marathons and the 10K as well, but the overall numbers were very low.”
Growing up as a sprinter, St. Amant got his start in long distance running in 2003 when he ran the 5K portion of a local triathlon. What began as a convenient way to be healthy and active, quickly transformed into a lifestyle.
“In 2007 I decided to do a marathon and it’s just been one after another since then,” said St. Amant.
Despite having laced up his sneakers for 50 marathons, he still remembers the first time he clocked in after three hours and eight minutes on the course.
“The first one is special because it’s finishing something you don’t know you can do.”
He added, “It was the Regina marathon in 2007. I did it with my youngest brother; it was his first and my first. We ran the first half together and then we kind of split up because we were at different paces. That was quite a good experience.”
After his first 42-kilometres in Regina, St. Amant qualified for the prestigious Boston Marathon. Since then, he’s travelled the country and globe competing in cities such as New York, Chicago, Sacramento, and Paris, France.
“For some of those, like in New York there’s 50,000 people, Paris around 40,000, Boston is a little smaller because they control the numbers, but it’s quite the event. You really get caught up in the atmosphere,” St. Amant expressed. “The spectators are incredible. In some places, like New York, they have over a million spectators so the whole 42-km you have spectators cheering you on. Then, there’s the smaller ones where you can go kilometre after kilometre without seeing anybody.”
His best finishing time came in 2013 at two hours, 52 minutes, and 13 seconds in Regina. However, completing the major marathons in Boston and New York in under three hours is a feat that stands out.
“Those are very difficult marathons; New York has bridges, Boston has hills, and the congestion of a lot of people slows you down.”
In preparation for hitting the 42-km courses, St. Amant starts the marathon season out training six days a week for 16 weeks with a variety runs, including long runs, interval running, and tempo.
Taking the majority of his training plan from magazines and being involved in track and field, he also incorporates cross-training into his routine, such as biking and stretching in the summer and cross-country skiing in the winter.
Thankfully, St. Amant explained, there are lots of resources for runners locally. However, you have to be willing to hold yourself accountable.
“In Bonnyville, there’s a very small number of runners, so you have to be self-motivated to go out by yourself, especially in the winter. There are a few runners, just no running club or anything.
“What’s been good is the C2 has good indoor treadmills, and the trail around Jessie Lake and now the trail to Vezeau Beach, that’s been very convenient. The town is very convenient to run in.”
Hitting a major marathon milestone hasn’t always been in sight for the local runner.
“I finished a few marathons early on, probably my third or fourth, saying I’d never do another marathon, and here I am. Forty-some marathons later and I’m still doing them,” said St. Amant, adding a sciatica injury in 2014 nearly put him off-course.
“I didn’t run for a year, I lost quite a bit of speed and time. I lost probably about 10 minutes on my marathon time so it was a little disheartening. I came back almost enjoying it more because it was like ‘yeah, I miss it.’ That was probably the hardest thing, is coming back. It was a slow recovery, my pace wasn’t as good, and running in pain. It would have been easy to quit then.”
Not only did he make a comeback in marathons, earlier this month St. Amant took his long-distance running to another level when he completed the Canadian Death Race in Grande Cache. The grueling ultramarathon takes runners through difficult terrain, with only about two-thirds of competitors actually making it to the end.
St. Amant finished the entire 125-km trek in 21 hours, 15 minutes, and 17 seconds.
“Running on trails was new to me, and there were some major mountain climbs, 17,000 feet of elevation, mud puddles up to your knees. It was exciting because I have never completed anything near that distance.
“I did it with another brother, he’s a little more experienced in long distance, so I really relied on his expertise. We finished the last two legs together.”
In addition to the already challenging course, unforeseen obstacles added another level to the aptly named Death Race.
“The last leg of the race is 22-km and it was dark. They forced us to run together because a cougar was spotted, so just to make it interesting.”
St. Amant stressed that without the support of his wife, Karen, the race would have been over before it began.
“My wife comes along with me to all of them. Supporting me on the Death Race, and all of these marathons, has definitely made it easy for me to do. Especially on the Death Race, it’d be very hard to do without a support crew. She’s been key to finishing that one, and the marathons as well.”
Next up on St. Amant’s to-do list, is crossing off the one goal he’s had since the start: to run a marathon in all of Canada’s provinces and territories.
It’s a goal he’s close to seeing through. With just Newfoundland left on the list, he’s scheduled to hit the pavement in his final province next September.
“I think when it’s done, I’ll be sort of disappointed. A lot of them have become travel destinations; my wife and I turn it into a vacation… Once it’s done, I’ll have to set a new goal I guess. (Marathons) are going to be something I’ll probably do until something stops me.”
