Sandra Moore's bio

Sandra just turned 30. She is the Executive Director of the Canadian Humanitarian Organization for International Relief based in Medicine Hat, AB where she lives. That charity works with hundreds of disadvantaged children and their families in Ethiopia. For the past two years a dedicated group of supporters held a charity triathlon in Okotoks, AB to raise money for the organization. When the children she visited in Ethiopia in July 2007 asked her if she did that triathlon that was organized to help them, she said no but in the same sentence committed to do it in 2008. Being 190 lbs and extremely out of shape she then started to believe that swimming 500 m and biking 20 km and running 5 km would never be humanly possible. Sandra joined the YMCA in September 2007 and tried to train on her own. In January 2008 she joined the Y Not Tri group at the YMCA and started training on a regular basis in the three sports. Sandra sees progresses every week and she is now focusing on the Foothills Charity Sprint Triathlon that will take place in Okotoks in July. She is doing it for her own health and determination but is looking forward to fly to Ethiopia in October after the competition to tell these children that she did it… also for them.

Jim Eso's bio

Jim lives in Surrey, BC. He is 48 years old. Jim started to run 7 years ago as a result of a “wake up call” following an annual medical exam. He started a “Learn to Run” program with his wife Tracy the same month and they have both continued to run regularly and competitively ever since. Jim is now fit, healthy and trim and a very positive influence on both new and experienced runners. He is a member of the Semiahmoo Sunrunners Running Club in the Surrey/White Rock area, he volunteers in his local community as race director for the Sandcastle City 10 km classic road race and has been the team captain for the last 6 years for his employer’s Vancouver Sun Run corporate team. Jim completed 4 marathons in the past 5 years (New York, Newfoundland, Stratford Upon-Avon and Vancouver) with a personal best of 4:18. He has completed dozens of other races on the road, trail and cross country. Jim’s personal best for the half marathon is 1:45 and 47 minutes for the 10 km. His 2008 goal is to qualify for the Boston Marathon. This means that he will have to run a 3:30 marathon if he wants to run the 2009 edition of that prestigious event. In addition to his marathon training that he’ll do with his local running store, Jim will continue to run at least two half marathons and a dozen or so shorter distance races. To qualify, he will run two marathons: the Newport, Oregon in June as a tune up and the Victoria, Kelowna or Sacramento marathon in the fall as his Boston qualifier.

Lisa Leskien's bio

Lisa is 27 and lives in Cambridge, ON. She is a former competitive runner in high school and university whose priorities have shifted since the recent birth of her daughter Ella in March 2007. Feeling lucky that Ella loves the jog stroller, Lisa is able to run around the streets of Cambridge, train with her local running group and to compete in road and trail races. Her goal however is to try several 50 mile ultra-distance trail running events in 2008. She is focusing on the Sulphur Springs 50 mile in Ancaster, ON in May and the Haliburton 50 mile in West Guilford, ON in October. Lisa already signed up for the Run For The Toad 50 km in October. If she can she will consider running the Jay Mountain Marathon in July and the JFK 50 miler in November. She wants to prove herself, her family, her friends and the kids she coaches at school that it is humanly possible to balance being a mom, a wife, a competitive athlete and a teacher.

Lance Hurrell's bio

Lance is a 43 years old resident of Victoria, BC. Diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in October 2005, weighing at this time 330 lbs, he immediately decided to change his lifestyle in order to fight the disease. First trying a new diet which alone ended having no effect on his diabetes and only small, temporary results on his weight, Lance started walking a 2 km distance to work. Not being enough, he took a “Learn To Run” clinic at Frontrunners, his local running store, on January 2006 and quickly started to notice a difference… and so did people around him when he had lost his first 20 lbs. Helped by his running store Lance completed his first 10 km race in April and ran it non-stop under an hour. Becoming a new person he continued taking the running clinics while starting to bike to work. When he reached 290 lbs he completed his first Sprint triathlon, then another one, and in October 2006 Lance ran his first half-marathon. His father’s diabetes had caught up to him, suffered a massive heart attack and never recovered. He was more determined than ever to get his diabetes under control. In 2007 Lance ran his first marathon in Hong-Kong and ran the same distance, later the same year. He also completed 5 triathlons one being a Half Iron. If there is no doubt that Lance has constantly been redefining his own humanly possible over the last two years and a half, his 2008 goal will be another step further… the 2008 Subaru Ironman Canada which is going to take place in Penticton, BC on August 24th. What makes Lance keep going? His commitment and how good he now feels with his new lifestyle.

Suzie Brown's bio

Suzie is 21 and lives in Hamilton, ON. At the start of her athletic career, which in high school was mainly cross country then in track and cross country at the university, she was diagnosed with exercise induced asthma (EIA). Even if she has been hampered by it during races and hard training sessions she has always refused to let EIA stand in the way of accomplishing her goals. She is motivated to show others that having EIA does not give a free card to be inactive, that healthy lifestyle and EIA can work together, just as high profile athletes like Paula Radcliffe have demonstrated. Suzie ran a variety of races including the Around The Bay, Mississauga Marathon, Iroquoia 32 km Trail Test and the 5 Peaks trail racing series. In 2008 she set up a new goal: triathlon. She started swimming and mountain biking a year ago. This year she wants to complete the HSBC Triathlon Series in Ontario and possibly do a Half Iron in August. She knows that’s ambitious but also that it is humanly possible.

Ed Bickley's bio

Ed lives in Calgary, AB. He will turn 50 in July. Ed is a long time and experienced runner. Since 1989 he’s been training and after his first completion of the Honolulu Marathon in 1990 he ran more than 65 marathons and 350+ track, cross-country and road races across various cities and countries. His 2008 goals are influenced by the fact he is going to enter a new age group. He will compete in the 1500 m and 5000 m events in both the Canadian Masters Track & Field Championships (in Regina in July) and the USATF Masters Track & Field Championships (in Spokane in August); he wants to win his age group in the Canadian National 10K Championships (in Ottawa in October); he also keeps his usual schedule of competing in 20-25 other running events across North America. Ed is very active in the running community and there is no doubt that younger runners will be inspired by how is planning to redefine his own humanly possible.

Christiane Bouchard's bio

Christiane is a 45 year old resident of Montreal, QC. She started doing mountain bike races in 2002, pushing her limits each new season by registering to more difficult races. She inspired others and wants to inspire more people. In 2006 she participated in the “Ruta de los Conquistadores” in Costa Rica, one of the toughest mountain bike race in the world. In 2007 she was vice-champion in the Quebec Cross Country Championship and Quebec Champion in the 40 Master category for the marathon. In 2008 she registered with her team mate to the Transrockies Challenge a popular but very demanding 7 day race in the Canadian Rockies in August. That will be her Olympics! She will train in Quebec in the Devinci Cups and will compete in Mont Sainte-Anne in July for the Women 40+ Canadian Champion title.

Rob Close's bio

Rob is a 52 resident of Regina, SK. He started running six years ago when he was diagnosed with diabetes and because of his overweight. Six months after, 70 lbs lighter, Rob ran his first marathon. A month later he ran another one which makes him say that he was either addicted or perhaps little nuts. Addicted, Rob probably is… 13 marathons, countless half marathons and 10 km races over the last six years and now ultra marathons. From a medical point of view Rob has now his diabetes under control with exercise and diet and takes meds only to protect his kidneys. His goal for 2008 is to complete the Powder Face Marathon in Bragg Creek (AB) in July, the Medicine Hat 50K (AB) in July, the Canadian Death Race (125 km) in Grand Cache (AB) in August, a race he did three times, and the “Le Griz” Ultra (50 miles) in Montana in October.

Nancy Neatt's bio

Nancy is 30 and lives in Bedford, NS. An Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury ended her basketball career early in her graduating year at the University of King’s College in Halifax. The two surgeries that followed were difficult for her mentally and physically and she suffered from having no goal in sight to recover to. Nancy’s husband introduced her to endurance road running and, with him, she completed her first half marathon in Halifax in May 2004 and her first marathon in Orlando, Florida in January 2005 in 6 hours. Her husband plagued with a hamstring injury they had to walk/jog the last quarter of the race. In October 2007, in Chicago the couple tried to do their second marathon. The extreme heat led to the race cancellation and again they had to walk to the finish line. Nancy knows she can be faster and is determined to show it. She has three targets for 2008: The Blue Nose Half Marathon in May, the Nova Scotia Half Marathon in July and the Prince Edward Island Half Marathon in October. Her goal: having a top five finish. On the side, Nancy recently started training for a triathlon. She will try-a-tri in June, do a Sprint in July and an Olympic distance in late August/September.

Stephane Lachance's bio

Stephane is a 43 year old resident of Quebec City. He has been riding his road bike since 1998, commuting first, then competing and now road biking is really part of his lifestyle. Stephane has been training with the Club Cycliste de la Capitale since 2005. He has been training in a fitness club during winter time since 2004. His goal for 2008 is to compete in 4 or 5 cyclosportives and wants to reach 8000 km at the end of the season. His 45 year old goal is to compete in one leg of the Tour De France. People who know Stephane admire him for his sportsmanship not only because he is paralyzed on his right side since his birth. He loves sport for the satisfaction it brings him and because it allows him to exceed himself. On his customized bike (gear change, brakes are all on the left side) he pushes himself each time and works hard on the road.

And the 2008 Nathan Canada Team members are…

- Sandra Moore (Medicine Hat, AB – Triathlete)
- Lisa Leskien (Cambridge, ON – Ultra Runner)
- Suzie Brown (Hamilton, ON – Triathlete)
- Christiane Bouchard (Montreal, QC – Mountain Biker)
- Nancy Neatt (Bedford, NS – Road Runner)
- Jim Eso (Surrey, BC – Road Runner)
- Lance Hurrell (Victoria, BC – Triathlete)
- Ed Bickley (Calgary, AB – Road runner)
- Rob Close (Regina, SK – Ultra runner)
- Stéphane Lachance (Quebec, QC – Road Cyclist)

A detailed profile of each athlete will be posted this week.

Welcome on board! Let the 2008 season begin!

The selection starts today!

Time for sending your application to be part of the 2008 Nathan Canada Team is now over. Thank to all the persons who visited our blog and who took the time to put together in such original and qualitative ways their profile, their dreams, their goals and to show us how motivated they are to redefine their own “humanly possible”… We’ll certainly have a hard time choosing 10 athletes among the 237 applications we received in the last three months. We are now going through them all and will contact these 10 persons very shortly. If the phone rings… it might be us! Also stay tuned as we’ll post the names of the 10 Nathan Canada athletes by the end of the week on that blog.