Siblings run in father's honour

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TREVOR.HAGAN@FREEPRESS.MB.CA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS - Tom Podruchny completes his 116th marathon today at the University of Manitoba. See arielle story. 06-21-09

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photos by TREVOR.HAGAN@FREEPRESS.MB.CA Above: �El Scorcho� after his race; the wrestling fan�s identity is no longer secret. Top: Tom Podruchny completes his 116th marathon yesterday at the University of Manitoba.

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TREVOR.HAGAN@FREEPRESS.MB.CA Michael Moore, 17 (left), and his father Joel. Michael, one of the youngest runners, took his dad�s place in the marathon this year.

The Grade 11 student from Dakota Collegiate was there for his dad, Joel, who has run in six marathons but isn't going to be running anymore. Joel, 51, is fighting skin cancer and had a brain tumour removed just last week. He was at the finish line Sunday to greet his son and his daughter Allison, 19, who both ran the full marathon in honour of their dad.

"This is my first marathon, I really wanted to run in it because my dad has run about 20 times (in various marathon events)," said Michael, a hockey player for Dakota Lancers who will try out for the Manitoba Junior Hockey League's Winnipeg Saints this fall. "I want to be like him, I admire him a lot and I wanted to pick up where he left off and follow in his footsteps."

After his recent surgery, Joel said he's feeling pretty good and there was no way he was going to miss the first time both his children ran the full marathon.

"It means everything, I'm just so proud of them. I can't believe how good he (Michael) did. It's just amazing," said Joel, who watched with his wife Katherine, mom to Michael and Allison. Joel, who ran in the first Manitoba Marathon in 1979, has been battling cancer for three years. "I don't expect them to run for me, I expect them to run for themselves but they're just fabulous."

Polite runner finishes first

EVAN Hartle, 5, ran in his first and last Mini Mites run on Sunday and made it count.

Hartle, a kindergarten student at École Riverbend School, was the first of the 36 participants in the fun event for children aged five and -under. He was so polite he raced up to the blue ribbon at the finish line but stopped in front of it instead of breaking through it. One of the volunteers gave it to him to take home.

"I like running, my favourite sport is soccer," said Evan, wearing his good-luck monster trucks shirt.

"He said last night, 'Maybe I can come in first or second or third or fourth' and I said, 'It's not about that, it's about having fun and doing this,' so he was very excited," said Evan's mom Lia Crabbe, who cheered him on along with his dad Darryl Hartle and 15-month-old brother Joel.

Your secret identity is out

JUST call him "El Scorcho" -- it's the name he registered as and he even listed his home town as Truth or Consequence, Manitoba.

The 32-year-old employee of Gardewine trucking finished the half marathon wearing an authentic Mexican wrestling mask.

"My buddy gave it to me because I used to be a pretty big wrestling fan and it's for the nickname," El Scorcho said. "He doesn't even know I'm wearing it."

He does now.

She's got a lot of sprint in her

MORGAN McDonald, four, kicked off her sprinting career on Sunday but it was a little early for her mom's liking.

As her mom Amy McDonald crossed the finish line of the 2.6- mile Super Run pushing her 11-month-old baby sister Addison in her stroller, Morgan took off and raced off the end of the course into the infield of the U of M Stadium, leaving her mom in her dust. One of the medical people scooped Morgan up and returned her to her mom who was doing a sprint of her own to catch Morgan.

"I wanted to win, I'm a winner!" shouted Morgan.

"Yes, you are, and a pretty fast one," laughed Amy.

The spirit of 67

TRYING to complete most collections is a tough task, be they sports cards, antique dolls or chewing gum comics. But Bert Moniot collects medals, and he's had to earn every last one of them.

"I'm trying to get to 100," said Moniot, 57, who snagged his 67th on Sunday. It didn't come easy, though.

"This is one of the most difficult ones I've run," said Moniot, 57. "I talk to some of the top runners who usually run, and they said the same thing." Still, Moniot left University Stadium with the hardware he came for.

"I got the finisher's medal, and that's what I wanted," said Moniot. "It's not about times."

The Manitoba Marathon was Moniot's fourth this year after he completed three in the United States. His last was in Deadwood, South Dakota two weeks ago, and Moniot plans to add medal number 68 to his mantle in about a month.

Helping poor farmers

RUNNING a marathon relay is tough enough, but imagine doing it with an added 50 pounds on your back.

That's what five volunteers with Winnipeg-based IDE Canada did Sunday as they passed along not only their time chip but one of the non-profit organization's drip irrigation kits.

The kit, which costs only $4 but holds 20 litres of water, is geared towards farmers in impoverished countries who own small pockets of land. It uses a bag and different sizes of plastic tubing to deliver water to crops

Duncan Farthing-Nichols -- who ran the first leg of the relay for his team -- said the idea was to get people talking, but he heard more comments than questions.

"I heard one person say, 'I can't even hold myself up and that guy's carrying a backpack'." It was for a good cause but carrying an irrigation system on his back hurt his time. "It knocks you off your stride."

Divine help or no, he did it

TOM Podruchny shrugged off the praise and congratulations after crossing the finish line.

Though it was his 116th full marathon, the 72-year-old was disappointed with his time.

"The heat got to me and God was not on my side," he explained with a half-smile. Podruchny recently moved from Selkirk to Oakville, Ont. but he has a long history with the Manitoba Marathon.

He was among the runners of the first marathon in 1979, a race Podruchny failed to finish because he didn't know he was allowed to walk.

"That was the first time God was against me," he laughed.

Last year, he marked his 100th race on the 30th anniversary of the Manitoba Marathon, and he proudly wears a silver band with an engraved "100" to mark the event.

Made you look

ROD Lauder enjoys his accessories, and the looks they garner from spectators and fellow runners.

The 54-year-old completed his 11th Manitoba Marathon with a white feathered halo dangling over his head, for no other reason than to lighten the mood.

"It's nice to have people notice," he explained, adding that he alternates his headpieces each year -- sometimes it's Canadian flags, other times it's alien antennas.

"Anything I can find to juice up the run."

Get Dad off the easy chair

CHRIS Yanke and his daughter Grace, seven, have started a new Father's Day tradition. The pair ran in the Super Run for the first time.

"Grace brought me out because she wanted to run with her friends," said Yanke, 38. "We'll definitely... be back."

Another dad braving the heat was Murray Brown, coach of the Oak Park Raiders varsity girls basketball team, who ran with his son, Zack, nine.

"My son Alec (aged 10) and I used to run together and so this is Zack's first time. Alec is here but he's finished already," Brown laughed.

I am Ironman

FOR Brendon Mitchell, the Manitoba Marathon is part of his training for an even more arduous event: the Ironman Triathlon.

"It's something to do on weekends," said Mitchell, 30. "It keeps me out of trouble." The Ironman competition involves a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride, and a 26.2-mile run. Mitchell is training for a race in Penticton, B.C. in August. He was running with friend Paul Dyck, 28, who plans to compete in his first Ironman in Madison, Wisc. in September.

"It's the challenge -- being able to push for something new and different," said Dyck. Mitchell said that the competition is more than just a physical experience.

"You really find out who you are," said Mitchell. "What pulls you through the dark times.

"Not to get too philosophical."

Getting an early start

HALLE Schneider trained twice a week, every week, for three months in preparation for her second marathon relay.

The main difference between Schneider and a typical runner is her age -- Schneider is only 12.

The Grade 6 student from Benito, near the Saskatchewan border, came down to Winnipeg with a group of her schoolmates to compete.

On Sunday she stretched alongside three other students at the relay exchange zone in Wolseley, anxious to start her run.

Her teacher Jackie Spencer said the school has entered relay teams for six years.

"It's school spirit, and (it will) give them the opportunity to participate in a massive event," Spencer said. She hopes it will inspire healthy habits in the students.

Maybe we should try in January

"IT was hot," said Horst Bergen, 43.

That was a common complaint from competitors at the 31st Manitoba Marathon, but it's more surprising coming from a man who has competed in marathons in Brazil, Uruguay, Chile and Argentina. There's one small detail, though, that changes the situation.

"They're in the winter," said Bergen.

Bergen lives in Paraguay, and was in town to visit his son, Dominik, 19, who attends Steinbach Bible College, and is working at Red Rock Bible Camp.

A family affair

FIVE was fine for the Coreau family as they dashed in the Super Run for the first time in five years.

"All five of us ran together as a family," said father Jason Coreau, 37. "It was the best one yet."

Coreau ran alongside wife Kristy, 32, and daughters Gracy, 6, Annabella, 4, with Molly, 1, safely in a stroller. They ran as part of a team organized through Gracy's school, École Central.

"I used to do the half (marathon)," said Coreau. "We're training all the girls so we can all do the half together.

"It was our goal to get them running early."

-- Compiled by Ashley Prest, Dan Falloon and Arielle Godbout

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 22, 2009 A4