Brainsport Times June. 1, 2016

Congratulations to all the participants and volunteers who took part in the 2016 Saskatchewan Marathon over this past weekend! There is a lot to celebrate; goals accomplished, fantastic performances, and the wonderful spirit of a community of runners, walkers, and volunteers coming together for a great event.

On the heels of such a fabulous weekend, we've packed the Times with two Q&A's this week. First up, we're going to talk with Brian to get his take on his thrilling third-place performance in the marathon. Then, we'll have a chat with Joel Pedersen of J2J Fitness about the safety-awareness and self-defence session being held at Brainsport this Saturday. 

There's a lot to cover, so let's get right to it!

Brian Michasiw

Tara: It's not very often you see a sprint right to the finish line in a marathon, but you and Seiji Yoshimura battled it out hard for third place all the way to the end. It was a cat and mouse game that began with about 10K left in the race, calling on you to dig deep over and over again. Take us through the race and give us a sense of how you found it within yourself to keep coming back.

Brian: The majority of the race was actually quite boring because I was all by myself for about 80 per cent of it. I thought the course was great, but once you get past the Bessborough there are only handful of spectators. I was trying to listen at water stations  behind me to hear if there were cheers for other runners coming up behind me, but I really couldn't hear anything. It wasn't until the north turnaround point that I realized I was in third place. 

Tara: Then as you came back by the University Bridge it started to get interesting as Yoshimura began to close the gap on you. What was your strategy at this point?

Brian: Once I realized he wasn't that far behind I started pushing the pace, thinking that it would be enough to bridge a bigger gap, but that wasn't effective whatsoever. 

Brian fighting hard for third place at the 2016 Saskatchewan Marathon - finishing with a time of 2:45. Supplied photo

Tara: So, then what did you do?

Brian: I kept focusing and trying to keep the pace up until I saw (coach) Jason (Warick) on the west side of the river with about 5K to go. He told me to pick it up. I put on a surge as hard as I could, again thinking - this would break Yoshimura, but he ended up closing the gap even more. I kept up the surge until I crossed the South Circle Drive Bridge and then Jason told me to run steady until I got to the playground at Gabriel Dumont Park. 

Tara: You had a surprise waiting for you at the playground as your son Oscar had planted himself there waiting to ride his bike in with you. What went on in your mind when you saw him?

Brian: Oscar had waited there for 20 minutes watching for me. It just so happened to be at this point where Yoshimura caught me. I was excited to see Oscar, but I was also dreading the situation of having my son seeing me potentially give up.

Tara: From here in on in you and Yoshimura traded third position several times. How did you find the strength to keep battling?

Brian: Oscar kept saying, "Dad you're doing great . . . you can keep up!" I didn't want to disappoint him. And Jason too, with him coaching me and all the time and work he puts in. These are two people I respect, and love, and I didn't want to disappoint them for different reasons.  

Tara: There was a lot of going on mentally for you at that point in the race; how were you doing physically? 

Brian: When I got to St. Henry Street, with about 1K to go, I started to fall a apart physically, so I changed my running form. Up until then I was powering through it. I then change it up and started to spin more and take very short strides - almost like I found another gear. I was relieved when it worked. I could tell it worked almost instantly. 

Tara: With very little time, or distance left in the race, what did you do?

Brian: I tucked behind Yoshimura for while to recover and then with about 150 metres left I made a move. He reacted and tried to come with me, but I guess I just had a little more left in me and was able to hold him off. 

Tara: Do you feel like you did what you wanted to do for Oscar by sticking it out until the end?

Brian: I wanted Oscar to see his Dad try his hardest. If there's any lesson you can give anyone in life - it's to try your hardest - and that's a gift I wanted to give him. I wanted to give up every second in that last 3K, but not enough to do it. It was more important to me to be a good role model.