VIDEO: B.C. runners fulfill Olympic dreams under guidance of longtime coach
Canadian Running caught up with the BC Endurance Project recently to chat with coach Richard Lee and two Rio-bound distance runners.
Richard Lee’s training group out of Vancouver will be well represented in Rio with two distance athletes on Canada’s Olympic team. The elite group, known as the B.C. Endurance Project, includes Games-bound Natasha Wodak in the women’s 10,000m and Luc Bruchet in the men’s 5,000m.
Canadian Running was at one of their recent workouts in the Metro Vancouver Area and caught up with the trio. The B.C. Endurance Project, shortened to BCEP, was created in 2013 in an effort to produce a training environment for world-class athletes. Other notable runners from the group, past and present, include Dylan Wykes, Rob Watson, Kevin Friesen and Catherine Watkins.
“For me, it’s going to be tough to make the finals,” says Bruchet. “That’s not to say it won’t happen but for me it’s going to be a great learning experience going to Rio.”
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The 25-year-old is one of two men on the 5,000m team heading to Rio after finishing in the top-two at nationals. Mo Ahmed, the Canadian record holder in the event, will join Bruchet. Wodak is on the 10,000m team alongside Lanni Marchant. The 34-year-old Wodak is the Canadian record holder in the women’s 10,000m.
“I want to prove to myself that I belong at the Olympics,” says Wodak. “I’m not just there because I qualified, I’m there to compete well.”
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The group is coached by Lee, a native of Kincardine, Ont., who graduated from Queen’s University and went on to coach his spouse Sue Lee to the 1984 and 1988 Olympics. He has specifically coached post-collegiates athletes since 2008. In the interview, Lee chats about never quite finding trust in a coach when he was an athlete in his early days and how he translates that now into his philosophy.
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Bruchet is currently in Guelph, Ont. training with Canada’s middle distance team as part of a pre-Olympic training camp. The endurance coach, Dave Scott-Thomas, has seven athletes going to Rio as part of the Speed River Track Club.
The #roadtorio became a bit shorter with a flight to Toronto. 8 days of training in Guelph before I continue on to Rio! #TeamCanada
— Lucas Bruchet (@lucabruca) July 31, 2016
Wodak is still in B.C. and won the Squamish 8K on Sunday in 25:58 in her final tuneup before the Games. Wodak will join Bruchet and company in Guelph this week. The opening ceremony is on Aug. 5 though many athletes will travel to Brazil later this month as their events are still weeks away.
Highlights from Wodak’s win at the Squamish 8K on Sunday
Great tune up for RIO today at #squamish8k– 25:57-felt ? & focused! pic.twitter.com/t3OrwmdNoD
— Natasha Wodak (@tasha_wodak) July 31, 2016
Natasha Wodak running the Squamish 8k today @tasha_wodak pic.twitter.com/JpMiUcPwmP
— Frank Stebner (@FrankStebner) July 31, 2016
Natasha Wodak with coach Richard Lee after winning the Squamish 8K in 25:57 @CanadianRunning pic.twitter.com/Yfz3Ju0d60
— Frank Stebner (@FrankStebner) July 31, 2016
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