麻豆社区

Logan Roots twists the thin beaded bracelet on his wrist as he thinks. It鈥檚 a memento from the 22-year-old runner鈥檚 first trip to Kenya for training.

He was on his way to the airport at the end of the trip two years ago and poked his head into a store. The man there showed him a few bracelets on display, but they weren鈥檛 to鈥圧oots鈥� taste.

鈥淗e went and took this off his buddy鈥檚 wrist and brought me to a back corner and we bartered for this,鈥� says Roots.

Initially the man charged him $20.

鈥淚鈥檇 been there too long to get ripped off that badly,鈥� Roots laughs. He got the price down and the bracelet hasn鈥檛 come off since. The real estate on his left forearm is firmly taken up by a Garmin watch that screams runner.

鈥淯sually when I鈥檓 racing or before I鈥檒l look at it,鈥� he says, touching the simple beaded design. 鈥淚t kind of reminds you how much work you鈥檝e put in.鈥圫ome people have a tough time convincing themselves of that before they race.鈥�

Starting this fall, the local runner will take on a different kind of challenge as he joins the military and begins his attendance at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ont.

Roots grew up in Whitehorse. An avid skier, at 13 he set his sights on attending the Arctic Winter Games. But a season of broken bones 鈥� wrist and arm 鈥� hindered his ability to pole, so he looked for another way to secure a ticket.

Cue snowshoeing.

He tried out for the team in front of running coach Don White and was welcomed aboard.

Roots quickly became hooked to running. It probably didn鈥檛 hurt that he had a natural talent for it.

鈥淚t鈥檚 brutally simple, which I like,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 blame a slow race on your shoes, you can only blame it on yourself. Pretty much everything that can go wrong is within your control.鈥�

Living in Riverdale, pretty much every run starts out his back door and up Grey Mountain.

鈥淚n the summer especially, this is the best place to run,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he winter, it鈥檚 a little tough. It鈥檚 always dark, there鈥檚 snow, it鈥檚 cold. I think once you get through a winter of running here you can pretty much run anywhere and be comfortable.鈥�

For Grade 11, Roots moved to Vancouver Island, where he attended Shawnigan Lake School. His running talent bloomed.

But every summer he would always move back to the Yukon.

A typical week of training involves 120 to 140 kilometres of running.

There are two big workouts: a hill run and a long run, usually Sundays. That long run could take up to two hours and he covers between 20 and 30 kilometres.

Roots, a self-professed morning person, prefers to run at the beginning of his day.

He never runs with music.

鈥淥nce you get into it and it becomes something you do 10 times a week, you kind of just teach your mind to wander a bit, or to focus on what you鈥檙e doing and time just goes by,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 more enjoyable, plus no bear is going to come up behind you if you don鈥檛 have music in.鈥�

When John Carson and his family moved to Whitehorse from Ontario a few years ago, Roots found he had a reliable training partner in Carson鈥檚 daughter, Lindsay.

And two years ago, Carson talked Roots into travelling to鈥圓frica to train at his running camp in Kenya for a few weeks.

Roots worked a roofing job to fund the trip. He loved it.

鈥淚鈥檓 just a big running nerd and it鈥檚 the hub of world-class running. You see your celebrities, these guys that are really nice. Plus the roads are really soft and beautiful and there鈥檚 all these other Kenyans to train with,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou can focus exactly on running. You don鈥檛 have to think about everything else.鈥�

To fund this year鈥檚 trip, Roots worked at Sports Experts, staking out the shoe wall to help prospective runners and walkers.

This time around in Kenya, Roots received an email from Canadian Forces, they wanted a phone number for him.

鈥淚 accidentally cut them off halfway through too because I ran out of phone minutes and I couldn鈥檛 call them back,鈥� he says.

So he shot off a frantic email.

鈥淭hey understood.鈥�

Roots was accepted into the military and RMC in Kingston.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been a long time coming,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t was nice to just have it confirmed, all the details laid out.鈥�

Roots first applied out of high school, but there was no need for pilots at the time. He hung tight, going to school for athletic therapy for a year before deciding that it wasn鈥檛 for him. He wanted to fly.

For the past couple years he has been going through interviews and tests with the military to become a pilot. Since it became an option to join, he has been growing his hair. His blonde curls are now shoulder-length.

鈥淔lying is just super fun,鈥� he says.

Roots would ideally like to fly jets, or with the Snowbirds, he says. While at school on the island, he saw the group fly at CFB Comox and has talked to a few of the pilots, even sitting in on a briefing.

鈥淚t was really cool,鈥� he says.

鈥淢y dad was on board the whole way. Mom took a little longer to convince,鈥� Roots says. 鈥淪he鈥檚 come around. She鈥檚 encouraging now. Still don鈥檛 know if she knows I want to fly jets, but we鈥檒l see.鈥�

This summer, competitive running is going to take a backseat in Roots鈥� life. There are no specific races that he鈥檚 training for and he won鈥檛 be travelling for any either. He says he might do some fun trail races, but that鈥檒l be on his own terms.

For now he鈥檚 looking forward to decompressing a bit, spending time with his family before he moves out east and enjoying all the activities the Yukon has to offer.

The first project on his list: planter boxes so that his parents can start gardening.

When he gets to Kingston in the fall, who knows. 鈥淚鈥檝e heard Kingston is a good place to run,鈥� he says.

This summer though, he says, twisting his bracelet, 鈥淚鈥檝e got to do a lot more pushups.鈥�