Get to know Team Canada: Craig Odermatt

Odermatt is a masters running and lifelong Victoria resident who can't wait to run in the Pan Am Cup, right at home

Madeleine Kelly January 20, 2020

Craig Odermatt is a lifelong Victoria, B.C. resident and a lifelong runner. Odermatt got his start in the sport near the end of high school, running both cross-country and track before he joined the University of Victoria’s varsity team. Odermatt will be competing in the masters event at the upcoming Pan Am Cup, and the hometown runner couldn’t be more excited about the event his community is putting on.

Age: 50
Hometown: Victoria, BC
Represented Team BC: 16 times

Odermatt started as a middle-distance runner but has transitioned to 5Ks, 10Ks and half-marathons. He jokes, “When I was in high school the 3,000m felt so far, and now I love the longer stuff on the roads. I remember knowing that I wanted to keep running for a long time when I saw a big improvement in my performances in grade 12. I remember coming home from the city cross-country meet having placed third. That was big for me and made me want to see where running could take me.”

His most memorable running moment came in his final cross-country race of undergrad, when his team won the national title–the first-ever for the university. “It was very special to help make history,” he says. Odermatt even hints that there may be a similar team lining up in February. “We’re proposing a UVic alum team and it’d be great to get as many of the guys as possible for the team that won the first championship almost 25 years ago.”

Now, Odermatt works as a database programmer for a medical company. He still lives in Victoria, where he was born and raised. “I love Victoria. I love it because it’s small enough that you can get anywhere you need to go within 10 to 15 minutes. I think the Pan Am Cup will be very exciting for the community, especially since this is hopefully a stepping stone towards securing a bid to host the World Cross-Country Championships one day.”

The Ontario Masters Cross-Country Championships

Odermatt explains that the race will take place at Bear Mountain Golf Course, where the setting is beautiful and runners rarely get to train (because it’s usually a functioning golf course). “I was actually pleasantly surprised that they were able to secure that location. There’s a great hotel near by, a beautiful forest, I think it’ll be the perfect setting.”

In the masters race, it’ll be Canada versus the U.S. in a rivalry that’s been going on for years. The 2020 event will see the 33rd running of the Can Am Masters Challenge. This event will be held in conjunction with the 2020 Pan Am XC Cup on February 29. The masters 5K race will run before the junior and senior championship events.

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