Throughout her
youth in Elliot Lake, across her three years
of post-secondary studies at Collège
Boréal, and on to career, family and
life in Ottawa, Annie Robitaille has maintained
a singular constant – and that is running.
“I started
running when I was probably 11 or 12,”
said the 36 year-old registered massage therapist
and osteopathic practitioner, who captured a
silver medal at the CCAA cross-country nationals
in 2003, and twice mounted the podium on a provincial
collegiate level as a member of the Vipères.
“It was just
something I did on my own, out of personal interest.
Running has always been kind of a tool for me
to manage my feelings, my emotions, even while
growing up.” By the time high-school arrived,
with Robitaille attending E.S. Villa Francaise
des Jeunes, an institution of but forty students
or so at the time, her potential had become
apparent, a progression spurred on by the landscape
of her own hometown.
“I started
running around the streets of my neighbourhood,
but Elliot Lake is very hilly,” she said.
“I give Elliot Lake a lot of credit for
helping me become such a good runner because
I had to run those hills every day.”
“And we had
a coach at the English high-school, Peter Shipman,
who was a really good runner and taught me the
importance of doing interval training. He would
always invite me to go out and practice with
his students.”
Throw in a very
strong support system at home – Annie
is the second youngest of four children in the
family, whose father (Daniel) is a five-time
Canadian weightlifting champion, former national
team coach, and physical educator, by trade
– and one can see the possibilities.
Yet despite finishing
fourth at OFSAA in 2000, a year prior to moving
to Sudbury for schooling, Robitaille had decided
that her sport of choice needed to be bumped
down the priority list, as she moved on to the
next phase of her life.
“When I was
in high-school, there were a few schools that
had approached me about visits to their campus,”
she said. “But I knew the demands would
be quite high and I wasn’t sure that my
heart was into it. I was also passionate about
the human anatomy and physiology, and knew that
message therapy was something I wanted to do.”
“I was thinking
I would just run for fun, focus on my education,
and maybe pick up competitive running later.”
Much to her surprise, the ability to combine
both academics and athletics would become available
in year two of her three year program, when
Collège Boréal decided to field
a cross-country team – of sorts.
“I think
we were three runners on the team,” Robitaille
recalled, with a laugh. Thankfully, her background
had created a foundation for success, an ability
to both self-motivate and self-coach, all while
striding step for step with the very best in
the province.
Fast forward some
fifteen years or so following her graduation
from college, with her strong personal character
traits still evident, as Robitaille balances
between career, her two young children at home
(a son who is seven and daughter who is three
and a half) and the constant that has been running.
“I wouldn’t
say so much competitive any more, but I still
make sure that I run every day,” she acknowledged.
“I don’t run with the same intensity
as I used to. I do it now just for well-being.”
And in the nation’s capital, she has found
a near ideal setting for her outlet, on so many
different levels.
“In Elliot
Lake, you almost never would see people out
running,” she said. “In Ottawa,
everyone runs along the canal. I would run with
my kids, pushing them in the stroller. I think
this is the time I’ve enjoyed running
the most – it forced me to slow down a
little bit. I even ran through my pregnancies,
right until the very end.”
If a five kilometer
cross-country trail was the standard in her
early twenties, Robitaille has bettered with
age. “I have done a lot of half-marathons
after moving to Ottawa, but a marathon is still
kind of on my bucket list,” she admitted.
“I think with a marathon, you have to
train with such intensity, and I still have
that competitive side of me, so once I sign
up for a marathon, I want to really invest my
time into training.”
“With a marathon,
you have to put in your mileage – there
is no cheating. But I would be happy to do just
one.”
Understandably,
Robitaille looks back fondly at her time spent
at the New Sudbury campus of one of only two
completely francophone colleges in Ontario.
“Running at Boréal was a very positive
experience,” she said. “It wasn’t
a very big school. Because the college community
was quite small, I would have a lot of support
for my running.”
“People would
stop me in the hallways and congratulate me.”
To do the same
today, best that you stop Robitaille while she
is running, given that she will be doing just
that, virtually each and every day of the year.
Still with running,
the Cambrian Golden Shield men’s cross-country
team struggled to find their rhythm at nationals
last weekend, with Eric Leishman finishing 23rd
overall, covering eight kilometres in a time
of 30:22.72, with teammates Erich Mundt (90th
– 34:09.69), Brandon Murray (94th –
34:46.37), Marc-André Maisonneuve (97th
– 35:22.77), Aurel Fox (99th – 36:05.56)
and Brennan Gregoire (104th – 37:37.56)
well off his pace.
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