Running has always been in Kristin Ohm-Pedersen's blood -she just didn't know it until recently. Now the former Coaster is living and breathing the sport and getting set to represent Canada at the Commonwealth Running Championships later this month in Wales.
"I've been running since 2008. I literally started running from scratch," said the 2003 Chatelech Secondary School grad. "Despite always being active, all my sports were anaerobic, or non-endurance sports, so I could barely run around the block without becoming breathless. I trained slowly and safely, and in May 2008 I ran my first half-marathon in Vancouver."
After graduating from Chat in 2003 and moving to Vancouver to pursue a post-secondary degree in human kinetics (the study of human movement), she completed her degree at the University of British Columbia in 2008 and was offered a job at Kintec (custom footwear and orthotics).
She is now a certified pedorthist, where she analyzes how people walk and run and makes custom orthotics and knee braces. She also teaches a 12-week running clinic at Kintec.
Given her studies and now her career, training and running in marathons and ultra marathons just became natural.
"In school my main sport was volleyball, but I dabbled in everything from soccer to mountain biking to outrigger canoeing. After high school, organized sport becomes a little less accessible," she said.
"I still played drop-in volleyball, but I wanted a sport I could do on my own time. Running was the natural choice. All you need is a good pair of runners and the motivation to get outside. I was also intrigued by the mania surrounding marathons; qualifying for the Boston Marathon and such."
Ultra marathons are essentially any distance longer than that of a traditional marathon (42.2 km). In North America, the ultra marathon usually means one of four distances: 50 km, 50 mile, 100 km or 100 mile. The terrain is varied and can be on road or trail.
Ohm-Pedersen ran her first ultra marathon in March 2010 and since then has completed 10 of them, racing in Canada, U.S., Sweden and Ireland.
"I would have to say that the race I am most proud of was the Mt. Si 50 km in Washington this past April. It was the first race that I was really able to tap into not just my physical strength and endurance, but also my mental strength and endurance," she said. "The combination of both of these is what lead me to my very first win with a time of 4:37:12. This was the fifth fastest time run by a Canadian woman for a trail 50 km this year. It is this finishing time with which I qualified for the Commonwealth Running Championships."
When she qualified for the event in Wales, she was naturally thrilled to learn she would don the Maple Leaf and wear Canadian colours.
"Ultra running isn't in the Olympics yet, so the Commonwealth Running Championships and the World Championships are the two highest calibre races in our sport," she said. "With this comes more pressure. Where I have been training on a more recreational level for the races I've run up until now, I now have to take my training to a whole new level and change my mindset for an international race.
"Most of all, I am just so honoured and privileged to be given the opportunity to represent Canada. It'll be an amazing experience."
The race in Wales is 54 km and is a five-lap course. The terrain is mostly single-track trail through the woods, but there is also about two km of sand dunes with each loop. Since Ohm-Pedersen has limited experience running on sand, she is trying to incorporate beach running into her training routine.
"I am running four to five days a week with a typical run being between 10 km and 20 km. On weekends I do my long run, which is about 35 km to 40 km. I am also working on drills, doing things like hurdles, hills and time trials," she said."
As for her finishing goals, she has set out three for herself.
"With every race you generally set out a series of goals with distinct levels of success attributed to each goal. That way you can adjust your mindset on race day depending on things like weather and how you are feeling," she said. "For me goal C would be to just finish the race. Goal B would be to finish the race in a sub-4:30 time, and goal A would be to finish the race with a sub-4:15 time.
"With this race, there is the chance to win individual medals, as well as the possibility of a team medal. With the team medal, the top three gender times for each country are combined. These combined scores are then ranked to get the top three countries by team. I think it would be amazing if the Canadian women's team made it to the podium and won a bronze medal."
But as with many sports these days, qualifying and representing your province or country is great, but fundraising to get there is an added challenge besides the training.
"Ultra marathoning is at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to funding. There is no funding or financial support given to athletes by Athletics Canada and the cost of trips is entirely out-of-pocket," she said.
She recently held a fundraiser in Vancouver, and you can also donate by writing her at #109 - 140 E 17th St., North Vancouver, B.C. V7L 2V5. You can follow her training on her blog at kristinop.blogspot.com.
