Runner experiences chilly marathon around Hudson Bay

By Lethbridge Herald on December 28, 2022.

Photo Submitted by Jim Scott Local runner Jim Scott accomplished running 16 kilometres on Hudson Bay during the Polar Bear Marathon last month.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

Local runner Jim Scott added to his accolades when he braved the chilly conditions in the Polar Bear Marathon in Churchill, Man., last month.

The marathon run is described as a winter-adventure-charity marathon in support of Athletes in Action Work done in the Sayisi Dene First Nation community.

The 77-year-old runner ran 10 miles (16 kilometres), which was just short of the 21-kilometre half marathon distance, in minus 24 Celsius conditions and had to experience the possibility of the presence of polar bears and wolves.

Runners were taken along the Hudson Bay coast.

“Like I say, we were pretty fortunate because there was only minus 24 (and) no wind when we started,” said Scott.

“The sun was shining, which was really nice, the road was clear which was very nice, and everybody took off (and) did their thing.”

Scott was told before he left that he is allergic to heat and hills in running terms and probably because of his age.

“But it’s always tough, I don’t run in heat very well,” said Scott.

“So I got up (and) said, ‘OK here’s a little hill and here’s a little hill … because a little slope to you is a little hill to me, and that bigger hill is like a mountain. And we’re going along the bay, and I’m thinking surely we follow the bay because I see this. I call it a mountain and I thought surely the road doesn’t cut up there and it did.”

Scott was talking to a pilot who thought that hill was a 200-foot climb.

“So you hop that hill and then you go on and on,” said Scott.

“So I was trying to get a half marathon in, but by the time I hit 10 miles, and it got colder and it was more hills … . I said to the guy, ‘You know, I think I’m done.’ I said, ‘I’ll tell you what, I’m not an easy quitter, I fight like crazy.’ I’m six kilometres away from a half marathon and I’ve done half marathons before, but not as brutal as this.”

Scott wanted to break the run down into two-kilometre increments to see if he could accomplish the half marathon length.

“Well I went 17 kilometres and I said, ‘ You know what, done,’” he said.

“I lived to run another day. So I got my 10 miles in.”

Scott’s training regime is running every Saturday morning 10 miles.

His route begins at the Enmax Centre, and takes him down Scenic Drive ,to the Helen Schuler coulee and back.

“So I’m used to it. That ( marathon) was  (a) pretty extreme situation there. So I thought, well I can knock that off. My time is usually two hours (and) three minutes, something like that, depending on the wind here. And I was surprised, for as many hills as I had to run up and how tough it was, I did it in two hours(and) three minutes . So I was pretty happy with my time.”

He compared the experience to a good mystery novel.

“You never know where it’s going and you never know how it’s going to end,” said Scott.

“So it’s one of those things where when you mix experience with feelings, that’s how the memory lasts forever.”

Scott won a medal for  being the oldest runner at the event.

Runners had the option of the full marathon (42 kilometres), Ultra marathon (50 kilometres) and half marathon (21 kilometres).

He also ran with 70-year-old Harold Cooper, who made it to the 10-kilometre mark, and is a former pastor in the city.