Marco Poulin of Sherbrooke, Que., set a course document at Massive Wolf’s Yard Extremely in Cacouna, Que. (close to Rivière du Loup), on Monday, operating 307.6 kilometres over 46 hours in a victory that places even higher distance between the ultrarunner and his previous struggles with habit.
The yard extremely format requires contributors to begin one 6.706-km “yard” (loop) each hour on the hour, till all runners however one both voluntarily drop out or fail to finish a loop within the required hour. (Yard racing is designed in order that theoretically, runners can full the 100-mile distance in 24 hours.) As soon as all different rivals are out of the race, the remaining runner should full one closing lap, making any document try each a group effort and a person one.
Together with his win Monday, Poulin, 58, bested the course document set final yr by Gatineau’s Eric Deshaies by three yards (20 km), in addition to Poulin’s personal yard extremely private greatest by 4 yards (26.8 km). Poulin completed second to Deshaies in Cacouna final yr, and each males competed on Workforce Canada on the World Yard Extremely Championships in Summerland, B.C. final October. Offering a vital help in Poulin’s record-breaking run was pal and fellow Sherbrooke ultrarunner Sébastien Roulier. The pair turned the race’s closing two rivals when François Decelles bowed out after finishing 40 yards.
Poulin’s win in Cacouna is the most recent chapter in a a lot bigger story of endurance and perseverance. A recovered drug addict and a former drug supplier who spent a number of years in jail, Poulin has made super strides in turning his life round in recent times.
He has sought to make use of ultrarunning as a method to encourage others to observe their goals, irrespective of how determined their present state of affairs could seem. Along with inspiring folks by means of his accomplishments as a runner, he helps others by means of his work at Partage St-François, a shelter for women and men in Sherbrooke who’re homeless or liable to being homeless. Poulin himself discovered refuge on the centre throughout his youth.
Poulin has additionally used ultrarunning as a option to forge a extra intimate connection. Finally yr’s World Yard Extremely Championships in B.C., he proposed to his crew chief and girlfriend, Isabelle Normand after the runner tapped out of the race following his fortieth lap. (She mentioned sure.)
