But competition wasn’t the big attraction for Fonseca when he started running.
“I joined the cross country team more for the social aspect,” said Fonseca. “I was not a natural from the start.”
Not a star in early races
He recalls almost finishing dead last in one of his early races. Fortunately, Fonseca’s father had a friend who was an avid masters runner. He offered to take Fonseca to road races so he could compete more often.
“He had this thing for medals,” said Fonseca. “He had races every week.”
The steady string of races paid off and Fonseca cracked the 40-minute mark for 10K at the age of 15.
“It’s the most ecstatic I’ve ever been after a race,” said Fonseca.
He would eventually break 29 minutes for 10K. His running prowess earned him a track scholarship at University of Oregon, where he graduated with a BA in English.
He won the 1995 Houston Marathon, was second at the Toronto Marathon in 1984, second at the Los Angeles Marathon in 1990 and third at the New York Marathon in 1992. He was the top Canadian in the Olympic Marathon in Atlanta in 1996, finishing 21st. His personal best marathon time of 2:11:34 is the fifth fastest ever run by a Canadian and he is the only Olympian in the Ontario Legislature.
These days, the demands of being a father of twins and Ontario’s Minister of Labour mean he can’t devote as much time to running as he once did.
“When I was a bachelor and high-performance runner, my whole life would revolve around running,” said Fonseca.
As a 42-year-old father raising two-year-old twin boys in Mississauga, Fonseca’s priorities have shifted.
“When I have spare time my priority is to be playing with them,” said Fonseca. He has a double baby jogger for his sons, Alexander and Sebastien.
Although the glory days of running are behind him, Fonseca clocked a respectable 5K time of 20.49.3 on Sept. 28 as part of the Run for Liane charity team which raised more $32,400 for childhood cancer research.
Among his other community volunteer work, Fonseca developed a Youth for Youth leadership program in the Peel Region that helps disenfranchised youth find a positive career path. He has also been a spokesperson for environmental causes as part of Pollution Probe’s Clean Air Champions and he works with the Special Olympics.
But Fonseca knows it’s sometimes an uphill battle trying to shake the perception by some members of the public that politicians are overpaid slackers with plenty of leisure time.
“I think some people just don’t understand our job,” said Fonseca. “Sometimes they’ll ask me, ‘What do you do all day?’ “
While some aspects of the job – such as Question Period, press conferences, ribbon cuttings and speeches – have a public profile, other aspects of the job can fly under the public’s radar. Committee work, briefings, paperwork and constituency work are important but low-profile activities that consume a lot of a politician’s time.
“Basically, my job is to take the needs of the community to Queen’s Park and different ministries or other levels of government,” said Fonseca. “You work with people to get answers and resolutions to issues. It could be a positive resolution or a person needs certain information. The answer may not always be what they want to hear, but you need to show people you went through the right process.”
Although Fonseca is no stranger to a world-class runner’s gruelling regime of 120-mile training weeks, he thinks election races are more difficult to plan and run.
“For a marathon, you are more in control,” said Fonseca. “You decide how much you want to train and set up a schedule. With an election campaign, it’s a team effort. A lot of things are outside of your control.”
And while political candidates may be willing to run themselves ragged week after week to win a job, political parties depend on legions of volunteers willing to give up their free time for no monetary payoff.
“People have busy lives,” said Fonseca. “You have to lead and inspire them to give of their volunteer time which is precious.”
He points out running a successful campaign has many parallels with good marathon training. You’ve got to start early, build the best team, get everything in place and get ready for the marathon challenge ahead so you can get to the finish line first.
“But on election day, it’s up to the people whether you win,” said Fonseca.
