Michal Kapral on his latest record attempt
He has ran sub-3:00 marathons pushing a baby stroller and juggling
three balls, spikesmag.com introduces you to the crazy world of
Canadian Michal Kapral – a man attempting to ‘joggle’ (juggle and run)
a World Half Marathon record in Montreal this weekend.
What made you start running these crazy marathons?
I remember in my childhood reading about the
Guinness Book of Records and after my first daughter, Annika, was born I ended up doing a lot of running by pushing the baby walker.
I took her out for almost all of my training runs and she just loved it.
I realised I was running all of my mileage pushing this thing and, for
some reason, I checked the Guinness Book of Records to see what the
world record was pushing the baby walker.
It was something like
3:22, not too fast, so that’s when I emailed the race director of the
2004 On the Waterfront Marathon in Toronto and he allowed me to go for
the record.
What was people’s response to you running and pushing the baby walker?
I think I turned a lot of heads because I was travelling pretty fast and zooming around the neighbourhood.
It
was actually a great learning experience for my daughter because I used
to point at things when I was running and taught her words like trees.
How did that first baby stroller marathon record bid go?
I ran 2:49 and I was on pace for 2:40 for much of the race. I had no
idea what I’d be able to run but I remember I slowed towards the end.
My technique was to push it and let it cruise ahead of me but over the last 5km it felt like I was pushing a truck.
How did Annika cope with being pushed for nearly three hours?
There was always a big if about what to do if she wants to get out. She
was a year and a half at the time and for the first half of the
marathon she was asleep.
She woke up around halfway and I was wondering what she was going to do.
Thankfully, I had some snacks for her, which I managed to give her
while I was on the run. I even had some spare diapers with me! She
never once complained, which is funny because my second daughter,
Lauryn, always wanted to get out of the walker after about an hour.
How did you get into juggling – or should that be joggling?
The juggling thing come about after the meet organiser at the On the
Waterfront Marathon asked me after the baby stroller record ‘so what
are you going to do next year?’ I remember reading that someone had
actually run a full marathon juggling.
I learned to juggle when I was about 10, so that was going to be my next record.
How much did you have to prepare for your record assault?
A lot. It didn’t really come naturally to me when I first tried
joggling. I was okay for about 100m and then my arms started to get
very tired and my technique was bad. I had to practise for probably
about four or five months – it was very embarrassing.
I used to go about four in the morning to the local park, just as the sun was coming up, and work on my joggling technique. I guess I didn’t want to be seen.
How did you overcome the technical difficulties?
My arms got used to it.
I
did lots of lifting in the gym to develop my arm muscles and I
developed a technique for ‘joggling’ in which I didn’t hold out my
hands out too far in front of me. Now I joggle with such a technique that if you are watching from behind it is really hard to tell that I’m juggling.
Did you have disasters while practising?
The worst thing that happened was the balls flew into muddy ditches. I once hit my head on a branch. I actually knocked the branch back but didn’t stop juggling.
What are the ‘joggling’ rules?
People always ask me if I have to go back to the start if I drop them.
You can drop them but you have to go behind the drop point. As long as every step of the race forward is with the joggling balls that’s fine. You can stop for a drink of water.
Did you break the record at the first time of asking?
The record was 3:22 and I ran 3:07 for my first one, although I did drop the balls about 25 times.
I was using these heavy balls so I learned to use lighter balls (three
beanbags and he now drops the balls an average of twice a race).
You currently hold the world record with 2:50:12, what is your next aim?
In Montreal (on Sunday) I’m going for the half marathon record, which
should be easy because they isn’t a (half-marathon joggling) record
yet.
I would like to run faster than my halfway split in the marathon so I’m looking for a time in the low 1:20s.
Is there any marathon challenge you wouldn’t take on?
I trained to break the world record of 3:50 for running the marathon backwards.
It literally felt like learning how to run from scratch – and running 3:50 pace was like running 2:30 pace for the marathon. I did about 20 training runs but found it too hard and quit.
***Michal Kapral, 36, has a personal best for running a ‘normal’ marathon of 2:30. He is also the editor-in-chief of
Canadian Running. He no longer holds the world record for pushing a baby stroller – American Michael Wardian recorded 2:42 in 2007.
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