Posted by & filed under 2019, Contender.

Hi everyone! My name’s Mikey and I’m an ENDURookie! I’m looking forward to seeing you out there, either running with me, or as a volunteer, or cheering us on.

Michael Klein is new to ENDURrun with a ton of support behind him. Welcome Mikey!

How did you find out about ENDURrun? My running crew in the Running Rarebits

What convinced you to take the plunge? Personal Challenge – Friends Support

What exposure did you have to ENDURrun 2018? No exposure to last year’s race, no.

What advice have you been collecting? Running on sore legs day after day, working with different terrain for different lengths and getting those KM’s up. My sources have been Deidre, Merlin, and a large group of veteran Endurruners that are in my Rarebits Crew!

What are you still hoping to learn by August? by August I am hoping to learn how to pace myself at the start for the larger, more lengthy Stages them just diving in.

What are your ENDURrun 2019 stories? Well I will admit, the mental confidence is there, but the motivation from my fellow runners has been the best feeling ever!
My motivation for ENDURRun is simple: Get into the best shape of my life, and have an absolute blast while doing it.
My goals? Honestly, to finish all the stages. Finish them exactly as planned months ago? Not sure yet.

What can we follow-up with you about in August for a profile part 2? See how much sweat I can lose from my body over the course of 160 km’s!

What are you most looking forward to about ENDURrun 2019? I am looking forward to kicking ass at Bechtel Park and Wilmot Line, but the most fun will be tackling all this with a large group of intense people.

What are you nervous about, if anything? I am nervous about the final Stage, the Marathon at the end. There’s so many factors, heat, injury, and you just don’t know until the day of how much of a feat it will really be.

Can you share any details of your training? As a rookie, it’s impossible to know if this is enough but here we go:
70-90 km per week of running, mix of trails and road running, with Wilmot each week.
– I have my favourite treacherous trail in Guelph where I am getting pummeled by rocks and roots each week.
– Weight training at the gym, taking care of my hips.
– The sauna is my friend a couple times a week.

What is your runner profile? I’ve been running for 7 years – Outdoor Adventure Races to start (Spartan Spring, Spartan Beast, Tough Mudder) then moved into longer races (Harvest Half, , Arc Race Syracuse, Toronto Waterfront Marathon) and recently took to the trails with Conquer the Canuck in 2019.

What else would you like to share? I think I’m the only one running with both a theatre degree and 12 years of musical theatre experience (RENT, Jack Black in SCHOOL OF ROCK, Donkey in SHREK). I doubt that will give me any extra speed, but at least i’ll be making everyone laugh the whole time !