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Running Proud

Growing up in Kitchener, Ont., as the son of refugees from Nicaragua, Gabriel Jarquin took comfort in running from a young age. Now he’s using it to support others in the struggle for self-acceptance

Photo by: Andre Morgan

Gabriel Jarquin is in love. The 36-year-old flight attendant and 1:10 half-marathoner met his partner, Ian, in March 2020, as the world began to shutter with the spread of covid-19. One year and four months later, they’re moving in together. “I never thought I would be in a place where I was in love – or rather, allowing myself to be loved,” Jarquin says. “I’m starting a life with someone, and I constantly have to remind myself to be present and remember how I got here.”

Finding a relationship is just one of the ways things are looking up for Jarquin: he’s running better than ever, and his new role as experience director for Toronto’s Pride and Remembrance Run is seeing him give back in a significant way, both to the sport and to the LGBTQ community, which taught him the most important kind of love: self-love.

In school, Jarquin loved running, and he excelled at it. It also served as an escape from the bullying he experienced for being, as he says, too feminine. “I hadn’t yet identified myself as gay, but knew I didn’t fit the mould,” he says. “Running has been huge since I was young, because I was good at it. I would win, and that was my escape – no one could catch me. I felt safe in the running community.”

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