Saint John dad and coach conquers goal of running marathon in 10 provinces

Over the past 20 years, Saint John runner Jeff Queen, 42, has moved across the country, had two kids, married, and switched jobs. 

But one goal stayed constant: to complete a marathon in every province in Canada.

It seemed like a crazy dream when he was a 23-year-old novice runner, fresh out of university.

But on Oct. 15, 2023, Queen crossed the finish line at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon with a time of three hours and four minutes.

It was the 10th province in which he's raced the 42.2-kilometre distance, and the marathon brought his lifetime kilometres to about 50,592 and counting. 

"A great way to experience a new place is to lace up your sneakers and go for a run," Queen said. 

"I've loved running for the last 20 years. If all goes well, I plan to be running long past retirement, well into my old age.

 "It's something I hope to do for the rest of my life."

While Queen was always athletic, running wasn't his thing growing up. 

But when it decided to give it a try in his early twenties, he found running appealed to his mathematical way of seeing the world.

"I'm a numbers guy," he said. "I've always got numbers swirling around in my head. Running paces, mileage targets, what percentage finished the run am I? What would this pace translate to for a marathon?

But that didn't add up to success in his first, ill-fated attempt at the marathon: the 2004 Valley Harvest Marathon in Kentville, N.S.

"I was severely under-trained and under-knowledgeable on the distance and the challenges," he said. "I probably knocked off pretty much every training and racing mistake in the books.

"For the next week I was hobbling around. It was a painful one."

His next attempt  —  the 2005 Okanagan International Marathon in Kelowna, B.C. — was