About me
Running made me, me.
Running empowered me and took my life in a new and more positive direction. I have so much to say about why I run and how it has helped me. Running fueled my passion to become a physiotherapist and gave me a supportive community that inspired me to be my best.
Since 2008 I've completed many of Alberta's ultramarathons and have ran many 100-miler, 100 km and 50 km races. Running has without a doubt made me who I am today. After finishing my first ultramarathon my life went in a new direction. I'm so grateful for crossing the finish line that day.
More About Me...
When I was about 13 years old a physiotherapist had a very positive impact on me, when he was the only professional who was able to help me with my lower back injury. It wasn't until about 10 years later that I actually made the decision to become a physiotherapist. After following a completely different career path and becoming obsessed with ultramarathon running, I returned to school to do one thing and one thing only: become a physiotherapist.
After becoming a physiotherapist, the journey didn't end. I continue to push myself to become a better physiotherapist every single day. While I enjoy taking courses, most of my learning comes from picking up books and reading papers. I have learned that a weekend course can help rekindle the fire to learn, but it is up to me to keep the fire going.
Education
Post-Graduate Training
Kinetacore Functional Dry Needling: Level 1
Entry-level intramuscular stimulation (IMS) course that covers all low-risk muscles throughout the body.
Kinetacore Functional Dry Needling: Level 2
Advanced intramuscular stimulation (IMS) course that covers more technical muscles. After taking level 2 the therapist can needle most muscles in the human body.
Certificate - Advanced Orthopaedic Manual and Manipulative Therapy: Level 1
Comprehensive post-graduate educational system for physiotherapists focused on clinical reasoning, handling & assessment skills, therapeutic exercise, and manual therapy (hands-on) treatment techniques. This course is focused on the lower body (lower back to feet).
Certificate - Advanced Orthopaedic Manual and Manipulative Therapy: Level 2 Lower
Comprehensive post-graduate educational system for physiotherapists focused on clinical reasoning, handling & assessment skills, therapeutic exercise and manual therapy (hands-on) treatment techniques. This course is focused on the lower body (lower back, SI joint, hips, knee, ankle & foot).
Certificate - Advanced Orthopaedic Manual and Manipulative Therapy: Level 2 Upper
Comprehensive post-graduate educational system for physiotherapists focused on clinical reasoning, handling & assessment skills, therapeutic exercise, and manual therapy (hands-on) treatment techniques. This course is focused on the upper body (neck, upper & mid-back, and arms).
Certificate - Advanced Orthopaedic Manual and Manipulative Therapy: Level 3 Lower
Comprehensive post-graduate educational system for physiotherapists focused on clinical reasoning, handling & assessment skills, therapeutic exercise, and manual therapy (hands-on) treatment techniques. This course advances knowledge from level 2 and teaches more technical manual therapy skills.
Certificate - Cognitive Behavioural Therapy: Level 1
Through Laurier University, this course introduces the full set of core cognitive behaviour interventions to treat a broad array of presenting problems and disorders. This training helps to form professionally excellent cognitive behavioural therapy sessions, teaching about session structure and evaluation, assessment and treatment planning, cognitive restructuring and changing behavioural responses.
Certificate - The Running Clinic: New Trends in the Prevention of Running Injuries
From diagnosis to treatment, including running gait analysis/retraining, detailed footwear analysis/prescription and appropriate load management. This course is over 20 hours long and is jam-packed with the latest literature surrounding running injuries and rehabilitation.
Certificate - UESCA Certified Ultrarunning Coach
A well-rounded evidence-based education program for aspiring coaches. The UESCA courses cover everything including anatomy and physiology, how to train appropriately and how to get ready for race day. This course was a great refresher to some of the education I already had and had some added bonuses.
Certificate - Loading the Injured Runner
This was a short-course covering the latest literature on common running injuries, how they occur and how to properly "load" the tissues again to get the runner back in action as soon as possible.
Race Highlights
To me, running is about competing with yourself and the battle within. Ultras have taught me so much about myself. They have given me advice that I transfer to every day life. These are some of my most successful results; however, these wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for the races that went sub-par or the few DNFs. Every race teaches me something; I just have to be ready to listen to it. I could seriously go on for days talking about every aspect of running and endurance sports and I'm fortunate that running has provided me with an amazing community that loves to talk about the same stuff!
Ultra Trail Stokely Creek (2021)
29:21:50 - 4th overall (5 of 15 who started finished... this was my first 100-miler since 2015)
Gord's Frozen Ass Fifty (2021)
4:40:22 - 5th overall
Sinister 7 100-miler (2014)
22:36:04 - 6th overall
Alberta Ultramarathon Series (2013)
2nd place male (35 & under age category)
Alberta Ultramarathon Series (2013)
Triple Finisher - Recognizes athletes who ran a total of 385-km or greater in 3 races.
Lost Soul 100-miler (2013)
24:09:14 - 3rd overall
Sinister 7 146k (2011)
18:54:07 - 6th overall
Blackfoot Ultra 100k (2011)
10:15:20 - 4th overall
Alberta Ultramarathon Series (2009)
2nd place male (35 & under age category)