Sixteen Canadian records went down at the Canadian Masters Indoor Championships in Toronto last month — including two relay records made possible through the speedy legs of Saskatoon athletes.
Trevor Jacek, 41, was the lead runner on an M40 4x800m relay team that clocked 8:44.69 over 16 laps of the track to narrowly beat the previous record of 8:45.59.
Meanwhile, Harvey Weber, 57, ran the third leg on an M55 4x800m relay team, helping it to a 9:50.22 finish, well below the old record of 12:22.78.
The pair still have a number of indoor meets on their schedules in the coming weeks — including a trip to the World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships in Poland for Jacek at the end of the month — but took time to talk to the Brainsport Times about their relay records.
Brainsport Times: How did you form your relay teams?
Harvey Weber: I had become good friends with Mark Pinckard from Vancouver and Syl Lemelin from Edmonton this past indoor season. At the K of C Games I asked them if they would want to be part of a 4x800m relay team at the Canadian Master Championships for the M55 category to take down the existing Canadian M55 record. Both said “yes” immediately. I then contacted Greg Athayde from Winnipeg and asked him to be part of the team. All the guys called me the “Team Captain” right from the start.
Trevor Jacek: A handful of us athletes had exchanged messages ahead of the meet about potentially forming teams to attempt to break the 4x400m and 4x800m relay records at the Canadian Championships, but ultimately our team was formed over the race weekend. We are all “new friends” that now share a memorable bond.
BT: What were your goals going into the race?
HW: Well, we are all super competitive so our goal was to smash the existing Canadian M55 record, which had stood since 2013 with a time of 12 minutes 22 seconds.
TJ: My M40 team was made up of some pretty great teammates. John Coffin (who won the National Championship in the 1,500m and was third in the 800m), Josh Sanders (who won the 3,000m title) and Ian Aseltine (who finished second in the 1,500 and ran the fastest 800m time in Canada last year for 40-44 year olds). Based on our collective accomplishments, we figured that we had a shot at breaking the record, even on very tired legs at the end of a busy weekend.
BT: How is running as part of a relay team different from competing as an individual?
HW: Since there are four runners involved, each runner has to be very disciplined to not go out too fast, causing burn out before exchanging the baton to the next runner.
TJ: Personally, I would have scratched this race if it wasn’t for the team aspect.
I was fighting off a cold over the Championship weekend and felt as though I had emptied the tank in the individual 400m race, which was my fourth event in 24 hours and just an hour before the relay record attempt. I didn’t know that I had enough left to race one more time, but I didn’t want to be the reason my teammates didn’t have an opportunity to beat the record.
Additionally, now that we accomplished the goal of setting a Canadian record, as a group, it will be a memory that we share together.
BT: How did your team react when you saw your finishing time?
HW: Based on each of our 800m times, we knew we could run a super fast 4x800m relay time. Each of us ran super strong legs and broke the existing Canadian M55 Record by 2 minutes 32 seconds, in 9 minutes 50 seconds.
We are hoping that record will stand for a while.
TJ: Before the race, we figured out our race plan and the times we wanted to be at for each handoff. We knew that if we fell behind where we needed to be, it was unlikely we’d be able to beat the record. As it turned out, we were right on pace at each of the three handoffs, making Ian’s anchor leg very exciting. When he took the bell for the last of the 16 laps that make up a 4×800, we all knew that it would be very close. He ran great and our heads were going back and forth looking at him and then the score clock, not knowing what was going to happen as we loudly shouted encouragement. When the clock stopped at 8:44.69, less than a second faster than the previous record, and the PA announcer told everyone that we had set a new national record, we all let out some huge cheers!
BT: Why should people give the relay a try?
HW: Relays are so exciting to watch and therefore so fun to compete in as well. Anything can possibly happen in a race, from dropped batons to crazy “come-from-behind kicks” by a strong runner to win the race.
TJ: Participating in a track track or running relay such as the “Banff to Jasper Relay” is a fantastic way to create a team sport out of an otherwise individual-focused type of race. It creates accountability and pressure, but also a support network and, most importantly, it fosters friendships with like-minded people that will last well beyond the length of the race.
BT: Anything else?
TJ: Harvey’s team’s record time is impressive and may stand until 2036, but I don’t feel good about its chances after that – which is when I turn 55 and will be old enough to be part of a team that can attempt to break it.
