Gerry MacDonald

Commitment and determination can lead to great achievements and the record of Gerry MacDonald’s running career is testament to this axiom.

Over 28 years, Gerry estimates that he has run approximately 50,000 miles, about two times the circumference of the Earth. That’s approximately 1,800 miles per year or 5 miles every day for 28 years. To maintain that effort over that time span is an amazing accomplishment.

Many of these miles have been in competitive events. Gerry has completed 67 full marathons and has averaged 6 marathons per year for many years. Among them are 9 Boston Marathons, which requires runners to meet a qualifying standard before they are permitted to enter. For 20 years he ran leg 9 of the Cabot Trail Relay. This leg has runners climb to an elevation of 385m before dropping to sea level, arguably the most demanding of the 17 legs. He has won the Rum Runners, 110 mile, ultramarathon 3 times and finished 2nd on two occasions. He has run the St. Andrews ½ marathon 24 times. He has completed the Keji perimeter run, a distance between 50 and 75 kms, 14 times. The Run Against Racism, a 65 km event, has been completed 12 times. Gerry won his age group in the Valley Ultramarathon, of 50 miles, in 2013. Gerry has also competed several times in the Johnny Miles Marathon, and the Nova Scotia marathon in Halifax and several other marathons held annually in the Maritimes.

Gerry has been known to run a 10k event on Saturday as a warmup for a marathon the next day. His running records include many years in which he has completed all of the Run Nova Scotia Series of 20 or more races. Additional events would have the number reaching 30 or more races during the 7 month running season.

One of Gerry’s proudest achievements occurred in 1992 during the 24 hour Sri Chinmoy event in Sackville Nova Scotia. In this event runners cover as much ground as they can over a 24 hour period. Gerry ran 100.92 miles, 25 miles further than the 2nd runner.

Ultramarathon runners are a special breed. It takes a person who loves to run, who will ignore the pain, and who keeps their objective in focus during the many hours on the road. Running is a solitary endeavor and one that receives little recognition. It is long past time for Gerry MacDonald’s achievements to be recognized and honoured.