Running is in her blood

Véronic Gervais ©Daniel K. Cooper

At the age of 52, Véronic Gervais has the rebellious look of a young champion marked by the unshakeable confidence of those who have surmounted the biggest challenges. For her, running is a way a life and allows her to explore superb parts of the country.

Her favourite playground, however, is our area, and she asks for nothing more than to have people discover it as she trains anyone willing to take on the adventure.

Here in Mont-Tremblant with her “family of athletes” for the past 30 years, Véronic laces up her running shoes at least five times a week and has done so for the past three decades. Initially a marathon competitor, she now particularly likes the half-marathon distance…which won’t stop her from participating in the Marathon du P’tit Train du Nord this fall.

After having worked for 16 years as a specialized buyer of athletic gear for the Tremblant shops, Véronic now does a lot of private training and works with Myrianne Côté in a new recovery studio. She is also a trainer with the Running Club of the Magasin de la Place, where Tremblant Express met with her.

Why running?

“Because it’s accessible,” she responds. “A pair of shoes is all you need to get started on the roads. You can take it anywhere. For me, running is synonymous with liberty; it allows me fit my training objectives into my daily life. If, on the other hand, I feel like escaping, I can just go; all I have to do is choose my terrain and take off. We live in a superb region providing a wealth of possibilities. There are so many different ways to run; it is truly a sport I adore,” she adds.

The Demi-marathon de Mont-Tremblant

For this runner, who always tries to improve her results, performance remains a priority. “I always compete against myself,” she explains. I have to maintain my time or beat it and arrive at least among the top ten in my category,” she adds. She regularly turns in a time of 1:40 to 1:45 for a half-marathon, but admits that the Mont-Tremblant Half-Marathon represents a whole other challenge.

“The course is really beautiful, very varied, and quite different from others,” she emphasizes. “It’s not an easy course; it’s a particular challenge and requires an appropriate training regime,” she explains. “But the scenery is amazing and the fact that it isn’t a loop and allows us to travel from point A to point B is something I particularly like. And the organization is extraordinary. It has evolved enormously over the years and has really improved.”

Injuries: axiomatic for the runner?

Not if you believe Véronic, who states that she has never been injured other than in a fall. “I am in perfect physical condition,” she maintains. “People have a hard time listening to their bodies and are often impatient. You need to take your time and go at your own speed. That’s what I try to drum into the runners of the Magasin de la Place Running Club. If you try to excel too quickly, you hurt yourself. You have to start with short distances and give the body time to adapt. It’s true for any sport,” she remarks.

Following your own path

“Sports have always been part of my life. When I was young, it was swimming and tennis. Today, it’s running. I’m lucky enough to be able to count on my partner’s encouragement; he’s my biggest supporter. I hope that one day the newspapers will talk about me as being the oldest woman in the world to run. I don’t want to stop. As long as my body allows me to, I’ll keep going,” she concludes.

 

 

Guillaume Vincent430 Posts

Rédacteur et journaliste de profession, Guillaume Vincent a fait ses armes au sein de l’agence QMI. Il s’est joint au Tremblant Express en 2014. Promu en 2017, il y assume depuis le rôle de rédacteur en chef et directeur de la publication. / A writer and photojournalist by profession, Guillaume Vincent won his stripes in the QMI agency. He joined Tremblant Express in 2014. Promoted in 2017, he has been editor-in-chief and co-publisher since then.

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