Don’t expect an Okotoks ultra-marathoner to get a job writing for European travel guides in the near future.
After all, when was the last time you read, ‘be sure to spend an entire day in Poland running around the same lake 141 times’ on a must-do list?
However, when Wayne Gaudet that he did it for the love of country and sport it doesn’t quite sound as nutty as it seems.
The 56-year-old Gaudet set a new Canadian record in the over 55 age group when he ran 218.52 kilometres at the 24-hour world championships in Poland in September. He shattered his own record of 206.23km, which he set in Wales last year at the Commonwealth championships.
“My goal last year was to run five marathons in one day and I just missed it,” Gaudet said. “This year I nailed it. I was pretty pumped about it. There aren’t very many people who can say they did five marathons in a day.”
However, the biggest thrill was running for Canada, which finished 15th among the 25 countries at the world championship in Katowice, Poland.
Gaudet also set a Canadian record, with no age-group attached to it, for running the quickest 100 miles (160km) when he passed the mark at 15 hours, 56 minutes. He was not only running for his country, he had country mates cheering him on.
“The course is about a mile long around a lake and on every loop you go through this huge tent where every country is — that’s where you get you water, food,” Gaudet said.
“When I broke my 100 mile record and I came down the chute (in the tent) the Canadian table just erupted. It was so positive ¬¬– a beautiful experience that I will never forget.”
Gaudet had little time to celebrate because he still had about a full day and night of running to go.
He said he didn’t ever get bored while running around the lake some 142 times.
“Never, I just lived in the moment and had so much fun with it,” Gaudet said. “I was talking to the other runners, and of course I am encouraging my Canadian teammates all the time.”
There’s nothing like the pain of running for 24 hours straight to knockdown any differences between countries.
“There are people I know from all over the world now and we were encouraging each other,” Gaudet said.
He came prepared. Gaudet brought along a second pair of shoes a size bigger than he usually wears, because feet can swell after running long distance, but he didn’t have to resort to a different pair of shoes.
Gaudet’s distance of 218.5 km put him 48th among the 150 men entered in the race. He was the fastest Canadian.
The winning distance was 277.54 km by American Mike Morton. The top woman runner was Micheala Dimitriadu from the Czech Republic at 245.88 km.
However, don’t expect Gaudet to set another record next year. He is taking a year off for a cycling trip.
He is expanding his travel guide to Africa.
Gaudet and his wife Trish plan to cycle from Cairo, Egypt, to Cape Town, South Africa next year.
