“Most people just do one marathon a year, I learned.” “No one told me you don’t do that,” she exclaimed. “It was delicious, though!” She finished in four hours and twenty minutes, then ran the half marathon one week later, and was again at the starting line of another marathon two months later. “I ate a Tootsie Roll at mile 18 and that was it for calories,” she said, now completely shocked she even finished the race. She started her running career with a spur-of-the-moment, race-day sign up of the Portland Marathon while she was training for her first half marathon that would take place a week later. Linda and her librarian colleague running a marathon. I think I got a C.” Instead, she spent her high-school time with gymnastics and dance, before turning into a “gym bunny” in college before finally finding the running bug. “It’s slower going, but so much better.” Oddly though, she was not skipping over rocks as a kid. Jump, skip, try to get around a huge rock,” she said. “I like trails that make me feel like a kid. The joke she likes to make is that she is “more of a climber than a runner.” Now, the runner seeks technical and climbs, and races that challenge her. “I had to stop running by mileage and go by hours instead,” she said. When first arriving in the hilly area of Canada, she said she was heartbroken after realizing her runs were closer to 10 miles than the 25 she’d been running before in the same amount of time. When not scheduled to work, a long run among the trails outside her house is followed by a long concentration within a thick-paged novel. Linda and Gary’s engagement picture in Chamonix, France.ĭuring the day, Linda’s two stories weave together. At 37 years old, Linda, born in America, recently moved to the Vancouver area to be with her husband, ultrarunner Gary Robbins. The other finds her nestled on the couch with a cat named Shazzar on her lap and her latest book propped in her hands. One story takes her to the quiet trails of her North Vancouver, British Columbia backyard. “It bounces between each story then intertwines in the end.” Her last love was a book written with two storylines one of a young boy in the World War II era, and the other of a young, blind girl. We began our interview talking about our love of books, something other than running that we have in common. “I like running with people,” Linda said, reassuring any friends who may read this, “but I need my alone time as well.” But that quiet side–ultrarunning, her passion for reading, and her work as a children’s librarian–outweighs her social personality a bit more than most. She found she fit nicely with the type who go to bed early for the next day’s 30 miler, and share an unexplainable call to the woods. Stumbling upon the ultrarunning scene, Linda found her people. All photos courtesy of Linda Barton-Robbins, unless otherwise noted. Where the Road Ends: A Guide to Trail Running.Ultramarathon Training: A Guide to Everything.New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro v6 Review.
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