West Kelowna ultra runner first to circle Okanagan Lake on foot
'It has helped me through many different challenges in my life, including mental health'
A West Kelowna, B.C., man became the first person to circumnavigate Okanagan Lake on foot last weekend, finishing the 300-kilometre circuit in a little more than two days.
Ultra runner Tim Dickinson said he started running about 12 years ago to as a way to cope with depression.
"It has helped me through many different challenges in my life, including mental health. That was a big reason why I started doing it," Dickinson told Chris Walker, host of CBC's Daybreak South.
7 marathon-long route
The route Dickinson took measures out to be about seven marathons back to back.
With a support team following Dickinson closely to keep him fuelled and hydrated, he began from Kelowna, then travelled down Westside Road on the lake's western side to Vernon, then back along the lake's eastern side through Kelowna and Okanagan Mountain Provincial Park to Penticton, then back up to Kelowna on the west side.
When he approached the bridge leading back into Kelowna he said the feeling of accomplishment was overwhelming.
"To know that I'd just finished running from end to end, I could barely contain my excitement, I just started laughing out loud," Dickinson said.
Mental vs. physical
Planning for the run was almost more challenging than the training or the run itself, he said, as this was the first time he had planned such a long excursion.
But as he's learned, the sport of ultra-running is "90 per cent mental and 10 per cent physical," with low and high points to conquer, similar to his journey with mental health.
"I figured out early on that whenever I got exercise I felt better, it just balanced myself out," Dickinson said.
"There are days where I have a hard time getting out of bed still, but I get up and I know that I'm feeling low, so I automatically realize that I need to go correct this.
"So I put on my running shoes, lace up and even if I don't feel like running I'm going to go do something active to help with my recovery."
Next on his list of epic runs is the Canol Heritage Trail, which is roughly 400 kilometres long and travels from the Northwest Territories through the MacKenzie Mountains to the Yukon.
He said the trek usually takes runners around 22 days to complete, but his goal is to do it in 10.
To hear the full interview listen to media below:
With files from Daybreak South