ARGONAUTS.CA STAFF
Perhaps the busiest time of year for any football equipment staff is just prior to the opening of training camp. Building new locker stalls, preparing practice and pre-season jerseys, sizing helmets and much more. As gruelling as training camp can be for certain players, it is no walk in the park for the personnel that surrounds the team either.
It is for that reason that one Argos staff member uses the final month before training camp to prepare himself for a task that many would find punishing but he finds almost peaceful.
Argonauts’ Assistant Equipment Manager, Tom Bryce is about to race in his third consecutive Boston Marathon. Similar to the now infamous Tom Hanks film Forrest Gump, Bryce says his love for running happened on a whim; he just started running and never really stopped.
“I started running a lot in grade eight and never really stopped, except for a few years in university,” Bryce said with a chuckle.
Born in Carleton Place, Ontario (located on the outskirts of Ottawa), and now living in Guelph, Ontario, Bryce began assisting the Argos equipment staff in 1991 before spending time with the Ottawa Rough Riders and Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He returned to the Argos in time to watch them build a Grey Cup championship team in 2004 and has been the man that players, staff and coaches all affectionately call ‘Bugsy’.
This year, Bryce’s marathon routine is slightly different from that of years past. He is taking part in what is called a ‘double day program’. That is to say, he’ll run a shorter distance in one day but an overall longer distance over the entire marathon.
“It breaks it up a bit but I will run 30 kilometres on Saturday and run another 20 kilometres on Sunday,” he said. A standard marathon measures 42 kilometres so Bryce will add an additional eight kilometres to his distance by stretching it over two days.
Preparing one’s body for such a task can often be viewed as a challenge on its own and Bryce says that his diet is altered dramatically between the days leading up the event and the days of the actual run itself.
“A few weeks before the run I try to be really selective about what I eat. I don’t want to take any chances with unfamiliar or risky foods to make sure that I don’t get sick or wind up with food poisoning. In the two or three days leading into the run I try to go with a very carbohydrate-heavy diet for energy.”
Bryce’s pre-marathon diet may seem normal but his food intake on race days is far from orthodox.
“On the day of the race I run on empty,” he said. “I don’t have anything in my body and I drink very little water, believe it or not. It’s a routine that is not for everyone but it works for me.”
You can track Bryce during his marathon by visiting the official Boston Marathon website. Visit the site on the first day of the race and type in Tom’s town which is Guelph, Ontario.