New Balance Canadian runner of the week: Jaime Leiva

When Jaime Leiva arrived in Labrador City, N.L., in the late fall of 2013, he knew nobody. It would be months before he would be joined by his wife, son and step-son. In that time, he had lots to adjust to on his own. There was his new job as the manager at the busy Wabush airport, there was the cold climate that comes with living in a mountainous region so far north of his home in Montreal and of course there was the usual changes that are made when making a new home in an unknown area.

“I was lonely here,” he says looking back on his move. He says his running was a way to get used to the changes and have something to do on his own after work. Getting faster was a goal that he’d look forward to during the adjustment. Running also became his way of exploring his new home which he has now come to love.

It’s hard to move and not look back. The running scene in Newfoundland was different from Montreal. There were fewer clubs and races available and, like most of us, Leiva had a favourite route which he had to leave behind. “I had this route which I would run every Sunday that would bring me into the woods,” he says.  “I miss it, but here with the nature, I have found a similar one,” he says.

Leiva typically runs after work. He describes himself as not being a morning guy. For him, running is best when it serves the purpose of unwinding after a long day.

“I have a stressful job,” he says.  He’s responsible for monitoring runways and extreme weather warnings making sure everything goes smoothly with flights in and out of the airport. For him, he’s always on duty in case something goes wrong. “I enjoy running to find solutions to my problems,” he says.

Though he has raced his share of 10K road races, it’s the personal gains he looks forward to. A typical week for him consists of 25 to 30K of running. When he runs, he usually goes for about a half-hour, except on Sundays when he runs for an hour and 15 minutes. Afterwards, he sips a chocolate milk to recover.

When he heads out for a run these days, he’s dressing for -25C weather and heading out no matter what (the coldest he’s ran in is -37C). Four kilometres into his route, he hits a very tough uphill, 500m portion. It’s so tough, he still remembers the moment he first ran the whole section without stopping. He continues on into the woods and comes out to a ski lodge with a lake on the right hand side. People both cross-country and downhill ski there. From there, he does a u-turn and heads for home. He says that by the time the run in finished, his legs and heart have had a good workout. This is a part of Canada that’s windy and cold with lots of slopes. “Here, if you don’t like the outdoors, it’s not a place to live,” he says.

That’s why when he’s not running, he’s skiing with his wife. Typically, they cross-country ski together for an hour or so and finish off with a run. “We sweat a lot,” says Leiva, laughing. Though Labrador City took some getting used to, he’s more than satisfied with its running scene. “I would run in Montreal if I had to do a race,” he says. “But for training, I would do it here.”