CANADA RUNNING SERIES / CIRCUIT DU CANADA
"The Joggler" aka Michal Kapral, to use Nissan Foundation 5K as fast, Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon tune-up!
Photos: Boston Globe
TORONTO. July 11th. One of Toronto's most internationally famous marathoners, Michal Kapral from The Beaches, has confirmed he'll be going for a new Guinness World Record at this Friday night's Nissan Foundation 5K.
Better known as "The Joggler", Michal set a Guinness record at last September's Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, joggling [running and juggling 3 balls] the 42 kilometres in 3 hours, 7 minutes, 49 seconds, and raising funds for Sick Kids Hospital along the way. The story was carried around the world, but the record was short-lived. In November, a 24-year old Harvard Divinty student from West Virginia, Zach Warren, "joggled" the Philadelphia Marathon in 3:07:05, raising funds for a Children's Circus in Afghanistan, and the challenge was on.
A thrilling head-to-head match was arranged for this April's famed, Boston Marathon. For 17 miles Kapral and Warren joggled side by side, before "The Boston Joggler" pulled away, "without ever looking back" [!!!] to smash the old World Record with a time of 2:58:23. The Toronto Joggler came home under the old mark in 3:06:45. The crowd reaction and the media coverage was perhaps even more remarkable than the charity-running feats of the jogglers themselves. As one blogger wrote:
Yesterday was the Boston Marathon. Kenya won again (of course). It was my first time actually going there to watch, and incredibly inspiring. Especially the jogglers. Stories don't get better than this. The current world record holder for marathon juggling (Zach Warren)—running a marathon while juggling at the same time—going head to head with the former world record holder (Michal Kapral) in a winner-takes-all showdown. We saw them pass the 25-mile mark and it was simply amazing.
The jogglers are still joggling, and a rumour is circulating that a rematch is being planned for Toronto Waterfront on September 24th—where they'll be joined by a third joggler, from Chicago!
This Friday's Nissan Foundation 5K will be an important tune up for Kapral, as he works to improve his speed, and juggling prowess. He'll also be tasking aim at another Guinness mark. According to Michal:
I'm looking to break the joggling 5K Guinness World Record of 16:55 (set in 1986 by Kirk Swenson) and am hoping to do it on the speedy Docks course. I should be able to do it without a drop, but just in case I would run on the opposite side of the road of a flow of runners at that pace.
I'll just do my best to steer clear of other runners, but I don't expect to drop anyway—my juggling is getting much better. This will be good prep to make sure I have the speed for the assault on the marathon record in September.
Join The Joggler, plus 1500 other runners, and don't miss "Totally Committed" playing live at the summer's best, most-fun run!