McMaster employee goes the distance

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Jeff_Simpson1.jpg” caption=”Jeff Simpson”]You would probably recognize Jeff Simpson if you saw him on-campus. A utilities maintainer with Physical Plant, Simpson is recognizable for both his size and his impressive red hair and beard. However, you probably wouldn't guess that Simpson is an avid runner. And not just a “Sunday afternoon jog” type of runner. Simpson is an ultra runner, meaning that his Sunday afternoon jogs can last more than 16 hours and cover 100 km.
What could possess a former smoker and couch-potato to take up running, let alone ultra running? Says Simpson, “I started running three years ago at Christmas. I decided to quit smoking, and the last time I did that, I gained 50 pounds. I didn't want to do that again, so I realized that I had to do something.” After an initial run with a friend, Simpson signed up for a “learn-to-run” clinic with the Running Room. This course prepares non-runners to complete a 5 km race.
But Simpson didn't stop at 5K. He ran on, completing a 10K and a marathon clinic with the Running Room, running the Around the Bay Road Race in Burlington, and coming in first in his division at the Wine Glass Marathon in Corning, N.Y., nearly a half hour ahead of his closest competitor at four hours, four minutes and 22 seconds. “I was so happy to finish, I didn't realize that I'd won. They mailed me a cheque, a picture, and a medal a couple of weeks later. It was my first marathon.”
But one thing Simpson quickly did realize was that he had caught “the bug” the running bug.
Following his first Around the Bay race, someone teased Simpson that he should try running 100 miles (the “Bay” is 30 km). “That's how I got into this hundred mile mess,” he says. “I don't take jokes very well. Considering that I had only run 30K and my prior level of inactivity, a 100-miler [161 km] was an ambitious goal.”
And it's not a goal that he encourages other people to set. “There was a huge training curve and it hurt,” he says. “Most people would have quit, but I'm belligerent…Now, I see that I was nuts. I went from a couch potato smoking three packs a day to a 100-miler…But I don't recommend it for other people.”
In the future, Simpson may have more opportunities to help people begin a fitness program. The facilities maintainer is studying to be a certified personal trainer.
“I've been working at Mac for 20 years. I was absolutely in love when I started, but now, I'm looking for a career change, and I think I can be effective for the right group of people as a personal trainer.”
And who is the right group of people? “I would like to help anyone who's committed. I'm compassionate to people who are like me -overweight and smokers - because I know the lifestyle change that is needed. I also know the stigma that goes along with people who are overweight and out of shape. I had to break through that stigma.”
One of the ways Simpson broke the initial stigma was through humour. When he first started running, his daughter made him a shirt inspired by a fitness club commercial where a “flubbery, rubbery, blubbery, out-of-shape dude” said, “Look at me, I'm a pear.” Simpson used “pear power” to get him through some of his early races. The shirt is now retired.
However, Simpson runs on. “I'm currently training for another ultra in September, and then I'll return to Sulphur Springs next May,” he says.
The Sulphur Springs Trail Run in Ancaster in May of 2004 was Simpson's first ultra-marathon. Despite running for 24 hours, Simpson was unable to finish the race. Organizers pulled him out at 132 km. “I had lost 24 pounds in 24 hours, but I won more battles than I lost,” he says. Of the 28 people who started the race, 21 finished, and Simpson ran the furthest of any of the people who did not finish.
Training for a 100-mile race while working full-time has been a challenge for Simpson. Awake every morning at 4 a.m., he's in bed by 8:30 or 9 p.m. every night. A typical training day starts with a 20K run in the morning before work. At lunch, Simpson heads to the gym. After work, it's either another run or cross-training. He keeps up this schedule for 13 out of 14 days.
“I use vacation time so that I can train,” he says. “I have a very generous and very kind boss. The department hasn't officially sanctioned some of the things that I do, but I do work very hard, and my boss sees a benefit from his end. Now, he has a guy working for him who's not nearly so narcissistic, who's a hard worker, who's more mellow and easier to get along with. So, it's showed up as a positive in the workplace.”
“Running has improved my attitude immensely…When you're running for 10-12 hours, you don't have anything to do but think, so it's helped me with stress management. It's helped me to do my job better, to be a better father, to be a nicer person. Also, I'm half the man I used to be, literally.”
Alexandra Coldwell from Physical Plant has seen the positive effects running has had on Simpson. “Other than losing a noticeable amount of weight, it's his positive attitude and smile that has been the most notable change in him.”
Despite his dedication to the sport, the financial commitment of ultra-running is another obstacle for Simpson. “I generally can't see myself making a life long commitment to this 100-mile thing,” he says. “I can't afford it. Right now, I'm supporting four people: two personal trainers, a coach, and a physiotherapist. I go through two pairs of shoes a month.” Race fees, which run about $200 per ultra race, also take a big bite out of Simpson's budget.
Even when he conquers Sulphur Springs next May, Simpson will continue to run. “I enjoy running and the health benefits,” he says. As well, Simpson has made many new friends - all in the running community.
One of his favourite new friends is ultra-marathoner and holder of multiple world records Monica Sholz. His mentor for the Sulphur Springs race, he cites Sholz as key to his running success. “Monica mentored me and got me through the landmines…She taught me how to do it.”
Sholz also showed him that 100-mile races were not the ultimate running experience. “I thought that this was the toughest endurance thing there is. An ultra marathon was the pinnacle. I would go there and no one would dispute that I was a runner. But there are far crazier things to do. Miss Monica is running in the Badwater Ultra, a 135 mile race across Death Valley…You have to run on the white line so that your shoes don't melt.”
While Jeff doesn't see the Badwater Ultra in his future, he does plan to continue running. “On my first run, I had no idea what I was getting into. I just wanted to finish the 5K, and it was a fight,” he says. Now, several thousand kilometres later, he concludes, “Running is a good thing.”