The Running Whys – Alex Coffin
ALEX COFFIN – The Running Whys
His name is synonymous with long distance excellence in New Brunswick over more than two decades. And this year, Alex Coffin is returning to run in the 20th anniversary of Emera Marathon By The Sea, an event he has captured a record seven times. What follows is his personal look back at his involvement in the race, his motivations and other insights on a remarkable career that remains at an extremely high level. On Canada Day, he put together another successful running of the Canada Day 10-miler and is a trusted coach, mentor and of course, runner.
Enjoy.
I blame candy! I think I ate 10,000 calories a day as a kid. It would embarrass me if you saw how much I used to buy from the local store and how quickly I would eat it. I ate a Halloween diet on a weekly basis. Did I hide in the basement and have my parents roll me out to say hi to guests? Nope! I burned those sugars off. I had a five-mile radius of activity that included the river and the deep woods. I ran, skied and biked everywhere. My friends and I would play road hockey for three-hour blocks. A one hour tennis match was a short one. I could easily run to my grandparents’ house five miles away when I was in junior high. I preferred to run there because it was dangerous to bike in the dark!
A few of us remember the early days of road-running in Saint John in the mid 1980s. Ed Lutes and David Legassick would be at most of the races. We were known for inaccurate courses (according to Gilles Gautreau) and beer sponsorship (Labatts and Moosehead would fight for the right to each event). Our running shoes would come from Murphy’s in Market Square. Our races always travelled through Millidgeville. The big coach in the city was Walter Ellis and the new track at UNBSJ for the 1985 Canada Games was a huge boost. The new pool was another catalyst and it only seemed natural that it would eventually become an involved partner with the Marathon By The Sea.
I probably should have concentrated on getting faster on the track as a kid but I loved road races. It was probably avoidance too as Rorrie Currie could kick my can even though he was two years younger. I won the local 11 miler when I was still in high school. I was also very lucky to be on a provincial championship cross country team at Saint John High School with Rorrie, Bruce Grant, Malcolm Lightfoot, Brett Jones, Clyde Carr and Derek Ram. When I went to university, I ran my first marathon in Calgary. I hit the wall hard! I returned back to the shorter events mostly until my late 20s when I heard about the Marathon by the Sea starting in Saint John. I was living in British Columbia at the time and my sister took part in the very first one in 1995. I immediately planned a vacation for the following summer that would line up with the marathon date. I was very excited that Saint John now had a marathon!
Alex Coffin races to the finish line in the 2009 Marathon By The Sea.
My first Marathon by the Sea in 1996 was an amazing experience. The Festival by the Sea was at the same time and the event festivities at the Canada Games Aquatic Centre and at Harbour Station were top notch. It had the feel of a major marathon! I had been in contact with Mike Doyle beforehand so they were hoping that I would hammer the course record. Mario Boudreau from Nigadoo had won the year before so it would not be an easy feat as he was a great runner. I went out hoping for a 2:35 and slowed to a 2:38:24 but I was very pleased! Mario had warned me that the course was not an easy one. I enjoyed every minute of it though and the finish across Harbour Bridge was amazing.
I set the current event record in 1998 when I ran 2:35:02. However, anyone who ran that year will attest that I could have ran much faster. It was probably the peak of my running fitness as I was just going into my final year of my Masters degree at the University of Victoria. That summer, I was running under 15 minutes for 5K on the track. After the marathon, I went on to my second All-Canadian finish for CIAU cross country in Ontario and an 18th place finish at the national cross-country championships in British Columbia. The weather during the 1998 event was brutal. I honestly feared for my life crossing the Reversing Falls Bridge as I had just heard lightning and thunder almost simultaneously before reaching the bridge. The rain was so heavy and hard that you could literally see it bounce off the road. Everyone got soaked that year! I still remember the squishing sound my shoes were making as I sprinted towards the finish line.
I won again in 1999 and returned in 2001 both to the race and to Saint John. I had moved back to Saint John by then and was working at the Canada Games Aquatic Centre. 2001 was one of the hot years with temperatures soaring over 30 degrees! It was my slowest win but also the most fun as I covered myself with water whenever possible at the stations. I was a fairly savvy marathoner by then so I sprinted out to an early lead and just watched my back. Only one other runner broke three hours that year. I was most worried about the third place finisher Rob MacKenzie from Prince Edward Island but the heat slowed him from his usual marathon pace. The women’s winner that year was Rebecca Richards and she was much braver than me. I still cannot believe she ran 3:12 in that heat.
In 2002, I got demolished by David MacLennan of Nova Scotia. He ran me out so hard that I ended up dropping out. He narrowly missed my event record with a 2:35:52. David and I would run against each other many more times. David beat me again in 2003 at the Marathon By The Sea. I would eventually get him back at the KV Challenge Marathon and the Valley Harvest Marathon. David and I now run against each other on the track as fellow coaches. David coaches the distance runners with the PIctou Country Track Club while I coach the distance runners with Bill MacMackin with the Saint John Track Club.
2004 was probably the start of the Brake-Coffin rivalry that got everyone excited. Chris Brake is an amazing runner and we had some great races. In 2004, I beat Chris to the finish line by just over a minute. Chris seemed to be unlucky at the Marathon By The Sea. He finished second overall again in 2006 to Dave Eaton and then second again to myself in 2007. However, in 2009, I unfortunately inspired Chris to his best marathons ever in my opinion.
Alex Coffin continues to run at elite level on the New Brunswick road racing series. Gilles Gautreau photo
In 2009, I decided that I would try to win every marathon in New Brunswick. I had won Marathon By The Sea six times at that point and I had the new half marathon record as well with a 1:13:25 in 2008. I had just turned 40 and I was about to be divorced so I figured this was a good time to go for broke with my running before it was too late. I won the Fredericton Marathon in May. I won the Charlo Marathon in June. Chris however decided that my plan had a major flaw. He was going to crush me (his words) at the Marathon By The Sea in September. He let me lead the race early on but demolished me in the second half. Chris won the race in 2:40:00. He then won the KV Challenge Marathon in 2:32:28 in October which was a course record! He then won the Legs for Literacy Marathon in Moncton in 2:42:00 which was also in October. In all three marathons, I gave him my best shot and finished second. He ran three national level marathon times in less than a month!
In 2010, the Marathon By The Sea was moved back to August and I wanted to make sure I ran the full marathon as I was one of the noisemakers who wanted to see the event returned to the late summer. This was my seventh win and I was lucky that Chris decided to try to break my event record in the half. My record remained intact that year but was finally broken by Graydon Snider from Halifax in 2013. Chris decided to return to the marathon in 2011 and relegated me again to a distant second.
Unfortunately In 2012 and 2013, I was unable to participate in the Marathon By The Sea due to my commitments to the Saint John Track Club and the Legion Track & Field program. However, for 2014, I am actively training for the event and preregistered for an attempt at an eighth win at age 45.
If anyone wants to hear some of my other old running stories, just drop by the store! I’ll give you a good deal on running shoes.
