STWM Athlete Profile: Getting to know Robert Winslow

As part of our coverage of the 2017 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on Oct. 22, we’re profiling the top Canadian athletes set to compete at the Canadian Marathon Championships.

RELATED: More STWM athlete profiles.

Name: Robert Winslow
Age: 29
Hometown: Dartmouth, N.S.
Current location: Guelph, Ont.
Associated club/coach: Speed River Track and Field Club/Dave Scott-Thomas
Previous marathons: 6
Marathon PB: 2:19:00

RELATED: More STWM athlete profiles.

Describe yourself: A chiropractor at the Health and Performance Centre on the University of Guelph campus. Decided to move to Guelph after chiropractic college to continue running and to see how far I could go with it. Gradually worked my way from cross-country and shorter distances to the marathon after graduating from St. FX in 2010.

Most notable running/racing experience: Running the Rotterdam Marathon in 2015 where I set my personal best was a very memorable race. It was roughly a 70-second PB and put me right on the Olympic and World Championship standards. It was a pretty good day for the club out on the course as well which makes racing that much more fun.

How has your training gone? Preparation for STWM has been going well and has been one of my more consistent builds. Outside of one or two hiccups on really hot days I have been running some of my best workouts compared to the past. This build I have been focusing on recovery a little bit more, getting regular care including physiotherapy, chiropractic care, massage and meeting with a nutritionist. I feel like taking care of those little things has helped allow me to stay healthier and be more aggressive in training. All we can do now is hope for good conditions on Oct. 22.

Why STWM? It’s great to be able to run such a high-quality race so close to home. Being able to have friends and family come out and watch you run and provide support throughout the day is an added bonus. It’s a nice motivator knowing you will have lots of support out on the course on race day. The race itself is extremely supportive, in that it creates conditions that will allow everyone in the race to run fast and near their best and not just the front group but also developing athletes or athletes trying to breakthrough to the next level. Alan Brookes does a great job at taking care of the elite field and the Canadian field to make the race day as fast and positive as possible. It makes it easy to stay home in the fall and race STWM.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BLPnxGxllCL/

Goals for the race? Ultimately I would like to run a PB. Based on the buildup I’ve had, I think I’ve set myself up that if we get the right day I could run a significant PB. That said I would be happy with anything under my current PB. I also finished my last marathon at CIM and found out I had a stress fracture in my navicular, which I started to feel around 10K. It would be great to be able to finish this marathon healthy without any injuries that put me out for an extended period of time.

What gear will you be sporting for the race? Shoes: New Balance 1400 V5; shorts – New Balance or Nike; singlet – Nike (probably). Possibly a Ciele hat too depending on the day. And so far I’m undecided on whether the beard stays or goes… it might depend on how bored I get during the taper.

Social handles:

Twitter: @RobbieWinslow
Instagram: @BobbyWins1
Strava: Robert Winslow