Jones wins 100km race with a time of 12:15:11
Sets new record at Iron Legs Mountain Race
September 30, 2024, 9:58 am
Ashley Bochek
Austin Jones of Wapella is a marathon runner and has recently broken the Iron Legs Marathon race record. Jones won the 100 km race on August 17 in Calgary.
The World-Spectator interviewed him on his latest win:
Tell me a bit about yourself.
I was born in Brandon and I grew up in Wapella. All of my family is still there so I still go home quite a bit. Then, I moved to Calgary eight years ago. I am a plumber in Calgary.
I didn’t get into running until the pandemic. Basketball was my first sport I really liked which I played a lot of growing up in Wapella and Moosomin. I started running during the pandemic because there was nothing really to do and I wanted to stay active and then I fell in love with it.
Why do you think you fell in love with running? What about it makes you love it?
I think for me you get out what you put in for the most part with running. If you put the time and effort in, you will improve. There isn’t a whole lot of skill to running it is more just putting in the time which I really like that mindset.
What sort of training do you do for running marathons?
I really like trail running or mountain running. In Calgary we are about an hour from the Canadian Rockies so that is where I really love running.
For training, I usually go to the gym once or twice a week to build some leg strength, but the bulk of training is just running.
I live in the city, and there are some trails by my house that I try and run there and then run on the pavement. On the weekends, I try and get out to the mountains and do some of my longer runs out there.
A weekly training split would be probably I usually run about six days a week anywhere from 100 kms to 150 kms a week for training.
Mostly what I like doing is running out in the mountains, so I usually try and run those kilometers in the mountains where there is lots of ups and downs and you’re running up and over running passes. I pretty much just run.
How many marathons have you run?
I did my first at the Calgary marathon in 2022, which is a road marathon done in the city and that is 42.2 kms.
I have done a few ultra-marathons—they are called—so anything over the 42 kms that a marathon is is called an ultra-marathon.
I have done two 50 km races where one was near Swift Current and I did another this year in Vernon.
Then I did a 50 miler last summer in Crowsnest which is 80 kms. Then, I did Iron Legs this summer which was 100 kms.
I understand you set a new record at the Iron Legs marathon. How did that feel?
It was pretty good. The day went pretty much as well as it could have there was no major issues and I trained pretty consistently all year, so it was nice to see that all pay off.
Those trails are pretty close to my house so it was kind of like my home trail, so it was nice to put down a good effort out there.
Why do you participate in marathons? What about them do you like?
The longer distances. I am not really sure to be honest. There is a mental part that I am drawn to and I am also not the fastest so the longer the races go the more chance you have of doing well when you’re not the fastest runner because there are so many other things that you need to take care of.
When you are running that long, eating and hydrating are so important. Taking care of yourself is a huge thing. That is probably what I am drawn to, all of the other pieces of the puzzle. It isn’t necessarily the running, you have to be on your food and nutrition and I just love spending big days out in the mountains.
What are some of the challenges when running a marathon?
If you’re new to running, running is a really repetitive sport so it can be really hard and easy to get over-use injuries.
The stick-to-itness is a challenge I would say because it can be very repetitive which some people may not like.
The biggest thing—if you want to start running—is to very slowly build up your runs because if you do too much too fast you can injure your joints just from all the pounding.
Running is very hard on your joints. I think it is pretty crucial to eat and work your way up in distance.
You sound like you have learned a lot about running and the effects it has on your body. How did you learn about it?
Mostly through trial and error and the internet. For the last year or two I have met some other people that are into running ultras and they have taught me some things.
They have been through it and have the knowledge as well, just friends and stuff like that.
What do you have ahead to look forward to in terms of marathons?
Nothing right now. I might look into some races next summer, but as of right now I have got nothing planned.
What are your goals in the future for running marathons? Is there anywhere you would like to go and run a marathon?
I would like to continue to have fun with it and getting out running in the mountains.
Someday I would maybe like to do a 100 mile race so 160 kms, but nothing planned just something I would possibly be interested in, in the future.
We’re so blessed here with the Canadian Rockies, there are so many beautiful peaks out there, but if I had to pick a race I would be interested in, there is the Utah called the Trushar Mountain Run that I have kind of looked at that would be really cool.
There are some really big ultras in the States like Western States is out in California and it is a really historic race and I just recently got home from France with my wife and where we were there is a big ultra called UTMB. I don’t have a ton of interest in running it, but it would be cool to go see the event for sure.
How many more years do you see yourself running marathons?
As long as I am enjoying running I will continue running it so I hope there are still quite a few years left, but the main thing is as long as I am enjoying it then I will probably keep running.
Tweet
