Geoff Courtnall Running Boston Marathon

In the past calendar year I have taken up running. Mostly on a fitness basis moreso than any competitive angle, but I have become completely enthralled with the sport. Almost as much as hockey.

So it gave me great joy to read this Jack Knox article from the Victoria Times Colonist about former NHLer Geoff Courtnall running in the famed Boston Marathon this week.

Sometimes, when runners power past, you wonder if they're trying to escape life or embrace it.

Geoff Courtnall doesn't run from much. His work ethic and swing-a-hammer-by-day, swing-a-stick-by-night teenage years are legendary. So, now, is his unflinching honesty about topics many would avoid: the mental illness that took his father's life, the drinking that masked his own struggles with darkness.

When the 49-year-old begins next Monday's Boston Marathon, it will be about pursuing a goal, not fleeing a past.

Here's the full story. Good inspiration. I do not know that I will ever run a sub 3 hour marathon, but something that can keep me going as I struggle past the 10k mark.