News & Releases >> 2004 >> Sep 20 2004
NEWS Sep 20 2004
The Marathon "pram-pushers": Kapral runs for Guinness World Record and Collis to take Amanda to Boston
TORONTO. 20 September 2004.
Although the 7,000 starters at this Sunday's 5th Annual Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon will include top-flight Africans, Canada's top male and female marathoners, and two-age group world record-holders, some of the loudest cheers on the flat, scenic Lakeshore course that stretches from the Humber to the Beaches, will be heard for 2 "pram-pushers" and their passengers.
Michal Kapral, a 32-year-old personal trainer with Sports Clubs of Canada in Toronto, and Mark Collis, a father of 3 from suburban Burlington, will both be going the full 42.2 kilometres pushing prams or "baby joggers", with their daughters, Annika and Amanda, on board.
Normally banned because of safety concerns for other runners, both men have been given special dispensation by race organizers, as they chase, or push their special dreams.
For Michal, the goal is the Guinness Book of World Records. Officially, the existing mark is 3 hours 54 minutes 36 seconds, set by Han Frenken (Netherlands) at the Leidsche Rijn Marathon, Utrecht, Netherlands, on 21 April 2003. In Calgary in July, however, another Canadian, Curtis Sampson, ran 3:05:12 with a baby jogger—and while this time has not yet been formally ratified by Guinness, it is clearly the time to beat.
The Danforth resident thinks it's well within his grasp. As a stellar club-runner, he has 20 years of running behind him. He's already recorded a personal best of 2:30:40, and has his sights set on a time somewhere just under 3 hours—a time that would clearly smash the existing mark.
Why on earth is Michal doing this? His story is perhaps mirrored by thousands of parents, and especially busy mothers today:
"After Annika was born 20 months ago", says Michal, "I found it increasingly hard to fit my training in with the daily routine. We bought a baby jogger, and it actually made it possible for me to get out and run. Soon, I found that almost all my training was being done with Annika. Then Ed Whitlock's world record at last year's Toronto Waterfront Marathon got me thinking. It inspired me. And I thought, 'I wonder if there's such a thing as a world-record running with a baby jogger and baby?' I called the Guinness folks in London, and there was! It is going to be so inspirational running the Waterfront on Sunday with Ed going for a new world best for 70+, and I hope we'll be about the same time across the line-somewhere around 2:55."
Michal will be running for The Hospital for Sick Children. To donate, click here.
For Burlington's Mark Collis and his 18-year-old handicapped daughter, Amanda, the goal is to run under 3:30 and thus qualify for the famed Boston Marathon. And his motivations are much the same, to do something special, and spend time with a special daughter:
"I run with Amanda for two reasons and only two. First and foremost we run together because Amanda enjoys it and secondly, I run with her because I can. Amanda likes to go running, but she likes to go racing even more. If I'm racing solo, I can't let her see me wearing the running club singlet, because she gets upset if she thinks I'm going without her. She is generally pretty quiet on the road, she's overloaded with stimuli, but at home before the run, it's a sing-song chorus of 'DAD!', tap-tap-tapping on her wrist ('Is it time to go?') and squeals of excitement when she sees her racing stroller. You wouldn't have to ask if she liked running if you saw her then."
Organizers hope that the crowds will be especially large this year, with good weather forecast, world records on the line, and plenty to cheer for.
For viewing points along the route, and times the runners will pass by, see www.torontowaterfrontmarathon.com/en/nc.htm (then click through on the individual Ward listings below the map).