Gary Robbins is one of Canada’s best known ultra-runners. Among many impressive accomplishments, Gary won and set the course record for Hawaii’s HURT 100, one of the biggest and toughest trail races in the world in 2010 and 2013. Gary continued having success in running and he entered the Barkley Marathons in 2017 and 2018 – the basis for the movie, Where Dreams go to Die. The movie helped elevate Gary to one of the most well-known ultra runners in the sport. It also led to the documentary “Endless” which aired nationally on TSN. I recently read an interview with Gary Robbins from Running Magazine in March, 2018. Gary was asked what are the defining characteristics of a runner, and his answer really resonated with me.
“An unwavering dedication to a goal, high pain tolerance, mental strength and resilience, ability to rally from deep lows in an expeditious manner, and a really good appetite,”.
An unwavering dedication to a goal, mental strength and resilience are particularly relevant to the current Covid-19 situation. Most races in 2020 have been cancelled and as a result, it’s hard to stay motivated with training. It’s important to keep in mind that races will resume in 2021 though. You will have to postpone many of your race goals to 2021 but you can use this time for building fitness, planning, and other areas of self-improvement. I also loved that Gary mentioned a really good appetite. A love of food is common among ultra-runners – you often see photos of donuts, pancakes and beer on runner instagram pages. One of the reasons that I love ultra-running is that you can eat a lot of delicious food, guilt free.
I was looking forward to following Gary’s attempt at this year’s Barkley Marathons and was disappointed when the race was cancelled because of Covid-19. I hope that Gary decides to go back to Barkley in 2021. Hopefully Gary’s inspirational words will help motivate you to keep up your training and to maintain an unwavering dedication to your goal.
