Seventy-five-year-old Helen Sabourin of Gibsons finished the Boston Marathon in second place in her age category last month – an honour that surprised the senior athlete.
“I was just hoping to finish it,” she laughed this week, noting it was her seventh time running the world-renowned marathon but her first time in the 75 to 79 age category.
“It was a very hard marathon because it was hot that day and I struggled,” Sabourin said, noting at one point she had to stop to massage out deep leg cramps that had set in.
“It was at mile 23 that I stopped and massaged them and sort of got rid of them and I knew once I got going again running that I would not be able to stop. I had to just keep going to the end or else I just would have cramped up again and that would be it.”
Refusing to give up, Sabourin pressed on to the finish line, ultimately crossing with a time of 4:56:38.
“That’s much worse than I usually do,” Sabourin said, noting it normally takes her about four hours and 40 minutes to finish a marathon, which is 26 miles (42.195 kilometres).
She blamed the extra time on the heat – “it was 74 degrees that day” – and she headed back to her hotel room from the race, just happy to have finished.
“When I got home to my room there was an email from the Boston Marathon Association inviting me to come to the awards ceremony at the official hotel because I had placed second,” Sabourin said.
“I was very, very surprised because my time was so poor, but I guess there were others that were slow because of the heat, too.”
Sabourin got the message too late to attend the ceremony, but she rushed over to pick up her medal and official Boston Marathon vase for coming in second.
“I was just ecstatic,” she said.
The first place finisher in the women’s 75 to 79 age category crossed with a time of 4:53:58, just a couple of minutes faster than Sabourin.
She said getting second place in the marathon was a great ending to her Boston running days, as she promised her husband she’d stop taking part in the U.S. run after this year.
“He said he doesn’t mind if I run other marathons but he asked that this be my last Boston and so I promised him,” Sabourin said.
“He doesn’t like me travelling that far and we have to worry about health insurance at my age. He doesn’t mind if I run in Canada but he really doesn’t like me going down to the U.S. anymore.”
She still plans to run in Canada and in fact is signed up for a half marathon in Vancouver this weekend. In the fall she plans to do a full marathon in Victoria.
Many find Sabourin’s ability at her age inspirational but she says it’s nothing special and that “anybody can run a marathon. You just have to train slowly, work your way up and have to hope for no injuries,” she said.
“Most people think they can’t do a marathon but really, they can.”
While Sabourin is happy to share her knowledge and passion for running with others, she has yet to see one of her five children, 10 grandchildren or three great grandchildren take up the sport.
“They like to go to the events with me but they don’t want to run,” she laughed. “Maybe someday.”
