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Ancaster Old Mill Run
The 25th Edition of the Ancaster Old Mill 5K and 10K will be run on Tues June 10th. There is also a 1K Kids run.
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Spring magazine lead article
Rick Ball is on a record roll
When Orillia runner Rick Ball heads to the starting line of the Boston Marathon on April 20, he’s bound to turn heads.
But it’s when he crosses the finish line that he really hopes to make people take notice.
That’s because Rick Ball qualified for the Boston Marathon by running a 3:17:38 marathon even though he’s an amputee.
The feat is even more remarkable considering that Ball only took up running in 2007, the year he turned 40, and he qualified for Boston in his first marathon in the spring of 2008. Soon after, he ran a 3:10:09 marathon, shaving more than seven minutes off his marathon time in about two months.
At Boston, he’ll be gunning for the amputee world record of 3:04:16, held by Amy Palmiero-Winters. He eventually hopes to become the first amputee to run a marathon in under three hours.
His remarkable odyssey from non-runner to world record threat has earned him the title of Orillia Athlete of the Year and made him a hot commodity on the speaking circuit.
Juggling a hectic schedule
He manages to juggle a full-time job, commuting to Toronto, a training schedule of 70 to 80 kilometres a week, speaking engagements, and family life as a father with two young children.
Ball never imagined he’d eventually end up being a world record contender when a freak motorcycle accident changed his life in 1986 when he was 21. He lost his left leg below the knee when a board came loose from a truck and struck his leg.
At first, Ball had trouble coming to grips with his injury. He was wondering “why me?” and thought about how different things would be if he’d just left the house 10 seconds earlier.
A few weeks later, his brother wheeled him around the head injury ward of the trauma unit where Ball was hospitalized.
“I saw that there were people worse off than me,” said Ball. That day he got out of his hospital bed and began doing push ups.
He later took up biking and cross-country skiing to stay fit, working up to 100-kilometre bike rides and 15-kilometre ski runs. And 20 years after the accident, he strapped on skates again.
Then in September 2007, equipped with the same type of carbon fibre prosthesis sprinter Oscar Pistorius uses, Ball took up running.
Hoping to get some guidance, Ball contacted Orillia Legion coach Roger De Plancke, a long-time runner, Boston qualifier and ultra runner.
Ball hadn’t been a runner in high school and recalls jogging down the road “a handful of times” in his 20s.
De Plancke asked for Ball’s race times and Ball confessed he didn’t have any. De Plancke then asked Ball’s weekly mileage. When Ball told him it was about 12 kilometres, De Plancke laughed and suggested Ball call back in a few weeks.
De Plancke was initially skeptical, but Ball’s determination and speed soon dispelled any doubts. Ball ran his first 5K in 21:59 in November 2007 and by January 2008 had notched a 19:22:94 5K. In February 2008, he ran a 1:34:46 half marathon, before qualifying for Boston with a time of 3:17:38 in the Mississauga Marathon in May 2008.
Canadian marathon record
By the end of 2008, he had lowered his 5K time to 18:44 and had run a half-marathon in 1:24:07 and a marathon in 3:10:09, a feat he believes is the Canadian amputee record.
“I can’t find anything from my research that’s faster,” said Ball.
Because his ran a 1:24:07 half marathon, Ball knows a sub-three-hour marathon is possible, as long as he avoids injury and has the right course and conditions.
Ball credits coach De Plancke for helping him progress much faster than he would have on his own.
“I advanced an extra two years quicker by having him as a coach,” said Ball. “Instead of learning the hard way by doing the wrong things, he tells me what to do and why I should be doing it.”
Although he loves running, Ball only runs four days a week and has to fight the urge to run more often.
“For me, it takes more discipline not to run more than four days,” said Ball. “When you’re young, you can get away with it, but I’m 43 now.”
He knows Boston isn’t an ideal venue for a record attempt, because of the hilly course, the congestion caused by the massive field and weather that is often unfavourable.
“My coach didn’t want me to try for the record at Boston,” said Ball. “The odds are stacked against you.”
But if Ball is feeling good and the conditions are right, he’ll chase a record. He’ll be aided by a 2:45 marathoner from Calgary who will act as Ball’s personal pace bunny to try to get him to the finish line in less than three hours.
However, Ball is prepared to switch to a backup plan if things aren’t going well at the halfway mark.
“If I’ve got the wind against more or it’s pouring rain, I’ll back off and treat it as a training run,” said Ball.
If the conditions are Boston are a bust, Ball would just trying to finish and try to tackle the record at the Mississauga Marathon in May on a course more suited for speed.
While Ball realizes not everyone is cut out to set a world record, a big focus of the talks he gives at schools is not giving up, and learning to overcome barriers and achieve results and measuring yourself against your own goals.
“It’s all relative,” said Ball. “It’s all about personal bests and running against yourself.”
Since he never ran competitively in high school, Ball is often asked if he wonders how fast a marathon he could have run when he was younger.
“I don’t dwell on it too much,” said Ball. “Maybe missing this leg is part of a plan.”
And lest any runners think Ball’s artificial leg is an “advantage” in a marathon, he quickly shoots down the idea.
Prosthetic leg not an edge
“I’ve got an artificial leg and my own leg, so I can tell the difference and it’s definitely not an advantage,” said Ball.
While most runners have to try to prevent blisters on their feet, Ball has to contend with keeping the stump on his leg abrasion free during a marathon. In the fall of 2008, he went on a long run the week after running a 1:24:09 half marathon. The result was soft tissue damage behind his stump that kept him off running for six weeks.
He credits the skill and patience of the staff at Barrie Prosthetics for fine-tuning the fit of his prosthetic so he can now do long runs without problems.
Ball has to squeeze in his training around a full-time job as a Toronto Transit Commission subway technician, where he’s often racing to fix mechanical problems in order to keep rush hour trains running. He works a compressed four-day week, commuting two days a week and staying over in Toronto the other two.
He and wife Stacey have two boys, Brayden and Carter.
Ball understands that many runners will never match his times, no matter how hard they train. But he believes everyone can benefit from the discipline and effort that goes into trying to reach a personal best.
“Running is the most honest sport,” said Ball. “When it comes to race day, if you missed training runs, you can’t hide it. It comes out.”
Rick Ball’s personal bests:
5K: 18:44
10K: 39:04
Half- marathon: 1:24:07
Marathon: 3:10:09
