The Runner Behind Ottawa’s Race Weekend

Being relatively new to the province of Ontario and Ottawa (originally and still a life-long east-coaster) I only recently came to find out that Ottawa’s Race Weekend is headed by a former international elite runner.

When I was a young runner and reading anything in print about running — I read about the phenomenal times and running of a Norwegian named John Halvorsen. From the land of cross country skiing and Bjorn Daehlie and Olav Koss (both gods of endurance), Halvorsen specialized in 10,000m and cross-country.

Impressive Running Career

In the 10,000m, he finished 16th at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, 12th at the 1990 European championships, and 19th at the 1992 Barcelona Games. At the 1987 world championships, he competed in both 10,000m and 5000m without reaching the finals. His highest place from the world cross-country Championships was 10th in 1989. He also attended the University of Ottawa and won a record four Canadian University (CIAU) Cross-Country Championships, two times senior national cross-country champion and won several Canadian 10K Road Racing crowns.

Today, the 45-year-old Halvorsen chairs the Board of Run Ottawa, an organization that not only organizes the Ottawa Race Weekend, but several other events under the Run Ottawa banner around Ottawa. Bringing things back to John the runner, even with all the speedsters that have run the Ottawa races, John once held the course record for the 10K with a blistering time of 28:12 set in 1988. I tracked down John Halvorsen for a few questions:

What was your proudest moment in your running career?

To qualify for the 1988 Olympics in Seoul Korea at only age 22. It was a big step for me at the time coming from national level runner to international level. Second to that was being awarded the Runners World Road Racer of the Year in 1989.

What brought you to Canada and why did you stay?

My father was in the Norwegian military and was posted in Ottawa at the Norwegian Embassy as the defense attaché. As a teenager I became quite attached to Ottawa through the friends I had and the community. My brother was already attending University of Ottawa and the coach there, the late Denis Landry was building an amazing cross country team, so I decided to stay here and have had no regrets.

How did you come to be race director for Ottawa’s marathon?

I guess I saw the potential of the event and felt it needed inspiration to move forward. I opened my mouth and the rest is history… Since then we have of course changed the roles and titles and technically I am now the president of Run Ottawa, an organization that organizes not only the Tamarack Homes Ottawa Race Weekend, but also a number of racing events as well as other club activities.

Do you still run?

Yes, but definitely not regularly enough and I have no interest in racing. Some lingering injuries prevent that. I enjoy road biking as cross country skiing (true Norwegian) as well and I have kids in these programs as well.

Ottawa race weekend has become an international race destination — what do you see for the future?

Ottawa still has potential to grow from a participation perspective – we close our events today for logistical reasons. There are also many other ideas we have not yet explored, however we do need to gather the overall support of the community and additional sponsors to take it to the next level. Keep in mind breaking into the very top echelon will take a tremendous effort that requires the complete support of the media and I am not sure the Canadian media can focus on anything but hockey for any length of time. This is not just an Ottawa Race Weekend issue, it is also a Running issue, a Track and Field issue and even an “Olympic Sports” issue.

Before signing off, John also made sure to let me know that he never likes taking complete credit for the race weekend. “It may be ‘run by me’ but I am only a volunteer. We have many volunteers that without we could not do this. In addition, we have a critical staff of four full-time people actually doing the heavy lifting.”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdUzBlqysIg[/youtube]

YOUTUBE: (Above) John Halvorsen winning the 1990 Red Lobster 10K (John in bib #1) in a time of 28:15.

John Halvorsen’s Personal bests
· 3000 metres – 7:49
· 5000 metres – 13:20.44
· 10,000 metres – 27:43.34
· Half marathon – 1:03:15

LET ME HEAR FROM YOU

Who else should I profile? Looking to profile runners of all speeds, sizes and shapes with interesting stories.

See you on the roads or in the blogosphere.