Every  stride  is  pure  agony for Paul  Osland. He  awkwardly stum- bles  around the  track  in  his  leg of the 4x 400m relay at the 2011 world

masters track and field championships in Sacramento, California. It’s the result  of a torn Achilles tendon suffered earlier in the meet.  Osland completes his laborious lap, and then watches his friend and teammate Mike Sherar run  a blistering anchor  leg to secure the bronze medal for Canada.

Winning medals at the world champion- ships  is nothing new  for the 48-year-olds Osland and Sherar, two  of Canada’s finest masters-aged  runners.   For  the   last  25 years, they have been working together as high-performance training partners. Two years  ago, they  began  collaborating on  a new  venture, forming a group  affiliated with the University of Toronto Track Club (ut tc), sharing  some  of their  vast knowl- edge,  experience  and  passion  for  track with  other motivated masters.  As a result of their efforts, 15 other ut tc athletes also competed at last year’s worlds.

Continue reading Jay Brecher’s article on the UTTC Masters group in the latest edition of Canadian Runner.

Canadian Runner Magazine

Group photo courtesy James Ramsay