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This edition of the Fun2Run Files has been brought to you by: a standout rookie and some seriously fast women.
Don’t let sophomore Luc Gallant’s smile fool you.
October is tough - one can only truly appreciate the lyrics to Bon Jovi’s Livin’ on a Prayer after they have survived those dog days of the cross-country season. Temperatures drop, days get shorter, and weary bodies get buried under a pile of workouts and races. Sometimes, we need divine intervention to make it through - or at least a pump up chat with Father Stan (same difference?)
Here’s the good news: the X-Women and X-Men showed no signs of slowing down last weekend. If anything, they are getting stronger by the race. More on that below. Aside from our latest race recap, this edition features a chilling video from the Women of X-cellence, a feature story on one of Nova Scotia’s fastest mother-daughter duos, and a bit of catching up with St. FX Sports Hall of Famer Lavinia (Gough) Carreau.
Hope you enjoy - Hail and Health!
Last weekend’s race - Acadia Invitational (Photos here!)
On Saturday, Oct. 5, the X-Women and X-Men travelled to Wolfville for the Acadia Invitational. While not all teams showed their full hands, the blue and white dominated, handily winning both races (click for full results.)
The X-Women scored a total of 31 points, edging out Memorial University of Newfoundland by 20 points. Jane Hergett and Paige Chisholm, both from the Annapolis Valley, made it a memorable homecoming by placing first and third in the 6k, in times of 23:21 and 23:29, respectively. Madalyn Higgins of Acadia placed second.
On the men’s side, St. FX rookie Jacob Benoit from Windsor, N.S. continued to show great fitness by taking the individual win in the 8k event, stopping the clock at 26 minutes and 42 seconds. He was followed by his teammate Graydon Staples (26:51) and Levi Moulton of Memorial University of Newfoundland (26:54.)
The men took home the team title with a score of 21 points, handily beating Dalhousie’s 49. St. FX Athletics wrote a more detailed recap here.
On Monday, Jacob Benoit was recognized for his strong racing, as St. FX Athletics named him the St. FX Athlete of the Week for the first time in his young career.
Benoit’s early season success also elicited attention from Corey Leblanc and The Casket, the Antigonish local newspaper. Read in more depth here:
The X-Women and X-Men will be back in action at the RSEQ (Interlock) Invitational in Montreal, QC. Women race at 11 a.m., and men at 11:45 EST. The full racing schedule can be found here.
Better late than never… congratulations Paige!
On September 19, senior X-Woman Paige Chisholm was featured in the Student-Athlete Leadership Academy’s Leadership Spotlight. Chisholm is a fourth year student from Port Williams, N.S. who excels in everything from the 1,500m to cross-country. So far this year, she has finished fourth and third overall in the season’s first two races, and contributes importantly to the team’s strong leadership core. Congratulations, Paige - well-deserved!
Feature
Runs in the Family
Senior X-Woman Ashley Robson gains speed by the year, follows in her mother’s footsteps
Ashley Robson (far right) is in her senior year with the X-Women. Her mother Denise (far left) is her frequent training partner.
When she was 35 years old, Denise Robson discovered the marathon by accident.
Two of her coworkers at Halifax Manulife were training for the 2004 Prince Edward Island Marathon on their mid-August lunch breaks. To blow off morning steam, the mother of three, who had not run since dabbling in cross-country in high school, decided one day to join. The run left her winded and uncomfortable – like a typical first run should.
Despite her discomfort, Robson was hooked. She fast-tracked her way into her co-workers’ training plan. Eight weeks later, she was the only runner of her training group on the start line - her co-workers had pulled out due to injury and other commitments. With nobody to follow, and no pacing experience, she won the PEI Marathon in three hours, 13 minutes and 27 seconds. Robson had metamorphosed into a Boston Qualifier before even understanding the prestige of the title.
“I remember talking to my friends on the phone, telling them I had won in 3:13,” says Robson. “They thought I had lost my mind and gotten the time wrong, and that I had really run 4:13.”
Her precocious talent quickly caught the attention of the late Cliff Matthews, a Halifax-based distance running coach who invited Robson to join his group for practices. At the time, Robson was beginning life as a single mother, and brought her three children, Alyssa (eight), Ashley (six) and Autumn (four) to practice. While their mother crushed workouts, the girls raced each other and skipped over hurdles.
Robson and her three daughters at the Halifax/Dartmouth Bridge mile. Ashley, far right, now competes for the X-Women.
From then, it took ten years for a second Robson to commit to training. When Ashley reached grade 11, intrigued by her mother’s hobby, she joined the cross-country team. The next summer, she was running and working out with Denise’s group.
Ashley recalls her first few workouts, when she was taken aback by her mother’s speed.
“She was so amazing,” says Ashley, “and I hadn’t realized how good she was until I started gaining more knowledge about the sport.”
Facebook: Ashley Robson
By then, Denise was 45, and had flourished as a runner. She was barely three years removed from being crowned the Boston marathon master’s level champion, and routinely won races across the Maritimes. Keeping up with her in workouts was no easy task, so Denise had to ease up to accommodate her daughter’s training pace.
“Every moment I could run with Ashley, I cherished,” she says.
Those toned-down workouts, however, did not last. By grade 12, Ashley had improved her provincial placing from 19th to fourth overall, and was quickly recruited by St. FX.
Now a senior with the X-Women, she regularly scores for the team, and provides them with an important element of depth and leadership, according to coach Eric Gillis.
“I have seen Ashley develop into one of our most consistent runners. Last year, she enjoyed some PBs in the indoor season over 3,000m and had a good run in Kingston on the national stage. She consistently shows what is possible with dedicated, smart and hard work.”
Denise never misses Ashley’s races, and claims to be St. FX’s number one fan. Photo: Denise Robson, Facebook
The more Ashley progresses, the more people pose an inevitable question.
“At every race,” says Ashley, “people ask me ‘when are you going to beat your mother?’ And my mom would tell people that I’d beat her once she turns 50.”
“Yeah, I would tell her that she’ll beat me when I’m 50,” says Denise, “but that she would have to bleed to do so.”
The Robson matriarch is now 51, and has yet to be beaten by her daughter. Ashley might be one of the top runners in the conference (she was an AUS top-10 finisher at this year’s first two meets), but Denise shows little sign of slowing down. In fact, she is aiming to challenge the Canadian 50+ Masters marathon record of 2:55:16 in November in Indianapolis.
“Things are going so well right now,” says Denise. “I had been dealing with a pesky achilles injury for most of the last two years, but this year something just clicked. I might be over 50, but if Ashley wants to beat me, she will still have to bleed!”
For now, Ashley focuses on beating the competitors of her conference, rather than the one in the living room. She is also in a race against time. Her fourth year in the nursing program comes with a condensed class schedule and twelve-hour hospital shifts that make it difficult to train consistently. Luckily, she inherited strong time management skills.
“Some days I don't feel like going for a run,” says the nursing student, “but then I think of how Mom raised all of us, always went to work, and would stick to her training. The work she puts into it is inspiring - she is a role model.”
Ashley Robson leads the X-Women at the 2018 St. FX Invitational
Ashley will soon get to take notes from a closer vantage point, when she moves back home to Halifax for a nursing apprenticeship in the winter. She will not get to run workouts with the X-Women in that stretch, but she knows she will have a reliable training partner nearby.
“I’m sure mom will be there to push me and make sure I’m getting through these workouts.”
“I’m really excited to have Ashley around again,” says Denise. “Running has helped us bond and be so close. We chat about everything on the run.”
With every mile she crushes with her daughter, now sixteen years removed from her stumble into distance running, Denise Robson is grateful for having chased her co-workers on a whim on that hot summer day.
“Running has given me so much,” she says, “and sharing it with Ashley might be the best part of it.”
Celebrating 50 years of St. FX Women in Sport
This week, St. FX professor Katie Edwards and Women of X-cellence released a five-minute history of women’s sport at St. FX. Follow this link to watch the video!
StFX Athletics X-plore the World Draw
Follow this link for a chance to win a dream vacation for two!
This year, each St. FX endurance athlete has the goal of selling two tickets.
Help them with this goal: if you purchase a ticket and submit the name of your favourite current St. FX runner in the designated ticket box, it will count for that runner as a ticket sold! If you buy the ticket electronically, email the name of your favourite runner to nishrunner@gmail.com.
Of course, when you purchase a ticket, tour money will go directly to the St. FX cross-country teams - it's our # 1 fundraiser!
This week on Remember them?: Lavinia (Gough) Carreau
This week, we caught up with 2001 graduate and St. FX Hall of Famer Lavinia Carreau (nee Gough.) At St. FX, she was a five-time Runner of the Year and two-time Athlete of the Year, in 2000 and 2001. She led the X-Women to their first ever AUS title in 2000, and that year won her second consecutive individual conference gold medal. On the national stage, she was a 1999 first team All-Canadian and an individual silver medalist at the 2000 CIS national championship.
Now a registered nurse, Carreau lives in Rosseau, Ont. with her husband Rob, and they have four children. Here, Carreau tells us about her favourite moments as a student-athlete at St. FX, her favourite parts of her line of work, and her current preparation for the longest race of her life.
1) Where are you from, and where do you currently live?
I was born and raised in Antigonish, NS. I currently live in the village of Rosseau, ON, with my husband Rob Carreau (St. FX alumni '00/'04/'16,) along with three of our four children (Angeline-16, Eve-15, Miles-13). Our family lives on a small independent school campus located on Lake Rosseau.
2) What do you currently do for work? What are some parts of it that you like - parts of it you like less?
I am a Registered Nurse working at the Canadian Mental Health Association with an Early Intervention in Psychosis Program. We support individuals between the age of 16 to 34 years who are experiencing early signs and symptoms of psychosis and/or a first episode of psychosis. It is a recovery focused program that works to promote early identification and treatment, while educating and supporting the individual, as well as the individual's family or support persons. My work can be challenging at times, but the person living with psychosis has the greatest challenge, so every step toward recovery we can support them in, is certainly worth the effort. The part of my work I like the least is realizing how much stigma toward mental health disorders still remains present within our communities.
3) Are you still running very much? I know you competed at the 2017 XC nationals. Any races since then?
I run 3 to 5 times a week when I have no race commitment in the near future. I am a lunch time lone runner most days, but if I run from home I often have the company of my husband. Rob and I met running cross-country at St. FX on the varsity team, so running is something we both continue to love. I did race at both the 2017 & 2018 XC nationals as part of a W40's Masters team with the Muskoka Algonquin Runners, however I have no planned XC races this season. In September, while at a Blues Festival in Telluride, Colorado, I did sign up last minute to race a 5k at 8750 feet elevation, where I crossed the line as the first woman, but gasping for oxygen. I must enjoy a little pain, as Bernie would say "No pain, no gain!," because a few weeks ago Rob and I, along with Rob's parents, siblings, and their partners, have all signed up and committed to doing the Subaru IRONMAN 70.3 Muskoka in July 2020!
4) What running moment at St. FX are you most proud of?
There are so many wonderful running moments from my time at St. FX, but the most surreal was racing in Kingston at the 1999 CIAU Nationals. I had no idea I was even a top contender until the dinner the evening before the race. The next day I went out strong, leading the race for the first 2.5km loop, then fell back into about 5th in the second loop. I was happy with my position, as at the 1997 Nationals in London, I had placed 22nd, so racing toward a First Team All-Canadian finish in Kingston was seeming pretty fantastic. With about one kilometre or less to go until the finish, a fellow maritime runner's comment broke through all the cheering and my own thoughts. I clearly heard him say, "If you are going to go, you have to go now!” So I did. My body reacted and I steadily caught one runner at a time until I was chasing down the leader to the finish. I crossed the line 5 seconds back from the leader feeling on top of the world and astonished to be a silver medalist. It was such an emotional moment shared with teammates, Bernie and Brenda, my son Keegan, as well as friends and fellow maritime runners. It felt like we all won!!
5) What is your favourite St. FX memory outside of racing?
Definitely crossing the stage at Graduation with Keegan in my arms. I felt so proud to be his Mom and to be graduating with my nursing degree. I was excited and apprehensive for the both of us and our futures, but knew it was time for us to move on. It was another very surreal moment for me as I walked with Keegan onto, across, and off of that stage in the Oland Centre. In some ways I was still the same bubbly girl that showed up at St. FX as a freshmen, but in other ways I felt like I had been re-invented and was capable of handling whatever came next with my son and degree in hand. Today, Keegan is back at university, but this time attending class by himself and standing on his own two feet;-)
6) What are some things you've learned as a student athlete that you still use today?
Believe in yourself, work hard, laugh often, appreciate and enjoy those around you, plus let them know you are grateful they are in your life, push the limits, stay positive, and never give up in life.
Bernie's hill running quote ~ "What goes up, must come down."
7) What advice would you give to current members of the St. FX XC team?
Dig deep when you aren't sure if you can and cross any finish line knowing that you gave it all you had. That is all you or anyone else can ask of a person. And remember, your team is your family, so take care of each other and you'll have no regrets!