Politicians typically do most of their running on campaign trails, but Prime Minister Mark Carney surprised many people when he competed in a long-distance trail run in southern Ontario on the weekend.
Carney was entered in the 26-kilometre event in the Haliburton Forest Trail Race, an annual event held about 160 kilometres north of Toronto, which also has longer distance categories, with the longest being 100 miles (160 kilometres).
"It has a reputation as one of the harder trail runs in Canada," organizer Tegan Legge said in a phone interview, noting the course features steep hills and an occasional rock face that competitors must scramble up.
"A 'crushing course' is what we hear, but we take that as a compliment."
Agnes Jung, a volunteer at an aid station six kilometres into the course, said she'd heard someone important was competing and that it might be the prime minister, but didn't quite believe it until Carney trotted up and asked for assistance.
"He asked me which way to go and I said, 'I'll take you. It's just a short run up the hill and then you turn left onto the trail,'" Jung said.
Jung said she was kicking herself for not taking a video, but realized she'd have another chance, since the course would bring Carney back the same way for the run's last six kilometres.
On his return, Jung asked Carney's permission to take a short video, where he explained that he'd entered the run to support his wife, who was also entered and was celebrating her birthday Sunday.
Jung said Carney appeared to be a very strong runner, saying they were both running up a hill while she conducted the short interview. Security were running along with him, she said.
"Oh my gosh, he looked amazing! He was running up that hill like he didn't even run 20 k before that. He was very strong," she said.
"He looked like an experienced trail runner for sure. These trails are really no joke."
According to an article earlier this year in "Canadian Running" magazine, Carney ran the half-marathon at Ottawa Race Weekend in 2013 and also ran in the 2015 London Marathon. The magazine said he was also cheering on racers from the sidelines during May's Ottawa International Marathon.
Gary Black, another Haliburton Forest Trail Race volunteer, said he spotted Carney over near the queue for the outhouse and asked for a picture. And he said the prime minister gladly obliged.
"After running 26 k and supporting his wife and all kinds of stuff, he hung around the finish line for I'd say an hour, just chatting with people and having photos taken, engaging everyone," Black said.
"Everyone thought he was super nice."
Out of 120 runners in the 26-kilometre race, Carney finished 58th, with a time of just over three hours and 45 minutes.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Haliburton Forest-David Sweeney
