Manitoba running icon ‘lived his passion’

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This article was published 26/08/2009 (6128 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CANADIAN Olympian and 1967 Pan Am Games gold medalist Chris McCubbins passed away earlier this week after a six-month battle with leukemia.

The retired elementary school teacher, 63, was a true man in motion, an instrumental figure on Manitoba’s running and cross-country ski scene since he moved to the province in 1970.

"Chris has had an impact for the last 30 years in this province," said McCubbins’ long-time friend and running colleague Sheldon Reynolds. "Chris was never away from running.

"To be fair, he was always working out; he was a perfectionist in the area of training. He tried different methods, new ways, always trying to find a different way to accomplish things and always looking for the training advantage.

"He lived his passion."

According to the Cross Country Ski Association of Manitoba website, McCubbins, a native of Enid, Okla., did not make his junior high school track team.

But he took to long-distance running and by Grade 11, was the school’s fastest runner. At the 1967 Pan Am Games here, he was the steeplechase gold medalist.

After a two-year stint in the U.S. Army –he competed in modern pentathlon during that period — he moved to Winnipeg in 1970 to attend the University of Manitoba and never left, becoming a Canadian citizen just before qualifying for the Montreal Olympics of 1976 in the 10,000 metres.

In the ’70s and ’80s, McCubbins was Canada’s top-ranked runner from five kilometres up to 20 and in 1974 and 1975, he was the Canadian cross-country champion.

At one time he simultaneously held Manitoba track records for the 3,000 steeplechase, 5,000 and 10,000 metres and his Manitoba 10,000-metre record of 28:16.51, set in 1975, still stands.

"I think that one will stand for a long time to come," Reynolds said.

McCubbins was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 1999.

"He was determined, tenacious, a true champion," Reynolds said. "He had a tremendous work ethic, just a tremendous resolve to accomplish whatever he set out to do."

McCubbins’ outdoor fitness regimen included cross-country skiing, and in 2003, he helped start the "Great Get Off Your Butt and Ski" fund-raiser for a ski program for inner-city kids. The CCSAM has added "in honour of Chris McCubbins," to the event’s title.

A memorial service to celebrate his life is scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. at Thomson In the Park Funeral Home, 1291 McGillivray Blvd.