A taste of Tokyo in London this week

Clara Fitzgerald is one of a handful of local endurance athletes competing in the Road to Tokyo Marathon this week – virtually from London.

Fitzgerald, who took up long-distance running four years ago (and has already qualified for the Boston Marathon), will map out her own route in London and try to qualify for the Tokyo Marathon. (Photo courtesy Clara Fitzgerald).

For Clara Fitzgerald, the Thames Valley Parkway will give way to Gyoko-dori Street this week – if only in her mind for the final few strides toward the finish line.

On Friday (March 5), Fitzgerald will join a handful of London marathoners, and thousands around the globe, to compete in the ‘Road to Tokyo Marathon,’ a pre-event for Tokyo Marathon 2021. Organized by the Tokyo Marathon Foundation, the virtual event is meant to build momentum towards an in-person event on Oct. 17, 2021.

Originally scheduled to run this week, the Tokyo Marathon, one of the world’s six majors, was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The last in-person edition of the event took place March 1, 2020.

“It is exciting. There is a whole community of us worldwide running Tokyo in our own cities, along our own routes,” Fitzgerald said.

Scheduled for March 1-7, the Road to Tokyo Marathon tracks racers on their home turfs via the ASICS Runkeeper app. Six hundred racers from this week’s event will qualify for a spot to run the Tokyo Marathon in the fall of 2021.

For Fitzgerald, and others, it’s a fluke of a pandemic that a marathon half a world away will take place close to home – and along the routes they love. It’s not a moment to ignore or regret, she says, but rather one to embrace.

“We have to get over that whole idea of the destination being where the happiness is. Virtual works for me. I know it doesn’t work for a lot of people, but for me it does,” said Fitzgerald, who had not yet finalized her route at the time of this writing – although she’d definitely settled on the post-race beer and sushi menu.

“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to run the rest of my life virtually, but in the meantime, it’s provided me with some focus and challenged me to continue to train.”

Originally from Toronto, Fitzgerald has called London home for 28 years. She started running at 3 years old by joining her cousins as they trained in cross-county. She played soccer growing up, intramurals in university, and remains an avid hiker and kayaker.

Fitzgerald (left) with her daughter, Diana, after she posted the year’s second-fastest time among Canadian women in the 50-59 age bracket. (Photo courtesy Clara Fitzgerald).

She didn’t take up long-distance running until four years ago as her children got older and she had the time to commit to it. Things came together quickly. Fitzgerald posted the 21st fastest marathon for a Canadian woman in 2020 (and second fastest in the 50-59 age bracket), a 3:31:41 in the That Dam Hill marathon in London in September (London hosted one of the country’s few in-person marathons last year).

With that time, she qualified for the Boston Marathon. Scheduled for October 2021, six months later than the famed race’s usual date, Boston organizers hope the extra time allows for an in-person event, of some sort, as the COVID-19 vaccine rolls out quickly across the United States.

Nevertheless, a chance remains that Boston may be virtual, in part, as well.

“Some people would say don't run your first Boston virtually, but I probably will,” Fitzgerald said. “We need those people who defy that kind of ‘well, if I'm not there, I'm not going to train for it’ attitude. For me, a lot of it is in my head. I can get into Boston mode and pretend I’m in Boston. It’s that whole visualization we do as an athlete. We immerse ourselves into what it is we’re doing.”

Fitzgerald has built lifelong friendships through the sport, both as a member of two running clubs, Backroads Run Club and JFRunning, and two social running groups, We Run LDN and Anderson’s Craft Ales Running Club.

She embraces the London outdoors community she encounters logging between 70-100 km per week – and not just the competitive runners and pandemic newbies, but also the dog walkers and daily stroll devotees she encounters on the Thames Valley Parkway.

“At the end of the day, it’s the friends that you make, the community that you build, the life lessons that you learn from being involved and active, which not only helps you physically, but mentally,” she said.

Fitzgerald’s running is also informed by her unique perspective as the former Executive Director of the Canadian Centre for Activity and Aging in London. The not-for-profit national research and education centre promotes physical activity and wellbeing in older adults through a combination of basic and applied research, educational resources, and community-based programs.

There, she found insights and inspiration throughout her 28 years with the organization.

“Those older people in their 90s were my mentors,” she said, “I’m always reminded about the number of people who’ve been a part of my life that have really lived being physically active even when they were going through difficult times – cancer, heart disease, stroke, Parkinson’s – and still trying their very best.

“That's really important for me – that sense of engagement. It’s not going through life passively, but really trying to find what gives you that spark and what helps you stay connected and engaged. And unless your body is connected as well, how does the rest of you get fully engaged?”

Coming to marathons in her late-40s, Fitzgerald knows she has never been among the youngest racers. But she doesn’t care. Age, as they say, is just a number – if you remain active.

“I love it when someone says, ‘There’s no way you could be that old.’ It’s possible. There are people I run with who are in their 70s and running competitively,” she said. “If you train appropriately, the muscle is able to adapt if it’s challenged. You do have to work harder, but you can maintain the same level of strength, balance, flexibility and cardiorespiratory fitness as you age.”

It is an informed belief that has informed her work, her athletic endeavours, and her life.

“A lot of people think that as you get older you shouldn't be doing longer distances. Your knees, your hips, and that sort of thing. But when you’re involved in distance running, you actually become more in tune to your body. You know that if you get injured, it’s going to take you a long time to recover, and so as soon as you feel something, you take care of it.

“Age doesn't mean you’re unable to compete at a high level.”

Running is one of the few sports with an active and engaged virtual community. While more team sports were forced to cancel major events, running managed to smoothly pivot. Tracking apps allow fellow runners, friends, and even strangers, to create virtual groups and encourage each other. It’s not the same, but it is still a community – and, as Fitzgerald asks, ‘Isn’t that what was needed during a weird year?’

“I have definitely focused more on being outside as much as I can and being active,” she said. “Whether I’m hiking, running, or walking, even when the weather is not great, there's not a day that I missed. It’s my happy place.”