Ultra-marathoner preparing to run nearly 8,000 km from Florida to Quebec | 24CA News
A Quebec ultra-marathon runner is making ready for a virtually 8,000-kilometre run from probably the most southern level of the United States to Quebec’s Gaspé Peninsula.
Joan Roch, 49, is thought for working greater than 1,000 kilometres from Percé, Que., on the jap tip of Gaspé, to Montreal in 2020.
Roch, who lives within the Montreal suburb of Longueuil, Que., mentioned he plans to depart for Key West, Fla. on Feb. 23.
From there, he plans to observe the Appalachian mountain vary to in Forillon National Park.
He mentioned he plans to run a mean of 52 kilometres a day with a purpose to end the run in 5 months.
The deliberate route, which can take him alongside the Florida Trail, the Appalachian Trail and the International Appalachian Trail, is 7,745 kilometres lengthy, he mentioned, “but I’ll probably get lost enough to reach 8,000 kilometres.”
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While some elements of Gaspé are notably arduous, Roch mentioned he’s extra apprehensive about Florida.
“It’s flat, there’s going to be heat, humidity, it will be swampy,” mentioned Roch, who has by no means been to the U.S. state. “All these particularities don’t make the route reassuring, because I don’t know it at all.”
And that’s with out mentioning the alligators, which he mentioned fear him greater than black bears.
Food would be the largest problem for Roch, who plans to journey calmly, utilizing a tactic referred to as fastpacking.
“I’m going to have to eat 6,000 to 8,000 calories a day, and that’s something I handled very poorly during the Percé-Montreal (run), I didn’t eat enough,” he mentioned.
Another problem will not be realizing how his physique will adapt to working for such a very long time.
“The big difficulty is that there’s no way to train for this, you have to do it, because the adaptations will take place over several weeks,” he mentioned.
Roch, who turned 49 final month, mentioned he desires to indicate that individuals can tackle wild initiatives irrespective of their age.
“You might think that I’m training non-stop. Yes, I train more than average, but I’m not an Olympic athlete, I have a full-time job, I have three children,” mentioned Roch, who works in info expertise.
He mentioned he believes that anybody might attain his degree if they need.
“It’s clearly not age that’s a factor, it’s the will, the discipline to train every day,” he mentioned.
That’s the message of his two books, “Ultra-ordinaire: Journal d’un coureur” and “Ultra-ordinaire 2: Odyssée d’un coureur.”
“Despite an ordinary life, you can still add the extraordinary, the ultra, to your daily life,” he mentioned. “In my case, it’s running, but it doesn’t matter what you set out to accomplish.”
Roch’s partner, Anne Genest, a widely known Quebec writer, mentioned she’s an enthusiastic supporter of the run.
“I was immediately drawn to his project,” mentioned Genest, who can be an ultra-marathon runner and plans to hitch Roch for his first week in Florida.
“Our relationship works like that,” she mentioned. “Each of us is fuelled by projects.”
© 2023 The Canadian Press
