In the course of the peak of the pandemic, everybody was looking for methods to remain busy and grounded. Ottawa’s David Merino used Pokémon Go. The app, impressed by the nostalgic Nintendo collection, encourages customers to discover their native environment to catch digital Pokémon.
However for Merino, strolling round to catch Pokémon wasn’t sufficient—he wanted to get to them sooner than different trainers. With gyms closed, operating grew to become the right answer for him to remain match whereas indulging in his “gotta catch ’em all” pastime. “Just a few months in, I made a decision to place the telephone away and simply run,” he laughs. “My runs slowly grew to become extra severe.”
In three years, Merino has progressed from informal runs to finishing a number of marathons and half-marathons. However now, he’s taking his ardour for operating one step additional. Merino was lately recruited by Run Ottawa to be a part of the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend’s Ottawa energy crew, and on Might 25, he might be a tempo bunny for the three:35 marathon group on the 2025 Tartan Ottawa Worldwide Marathon.
Merino says he has spent the previous two years connecting with tons of of runners, attempting to be taught as a lot as potential to enhance his efficiency from one race to the following. “It’s one factor to chase private targets,” he says, “however I feel giving again to the neighborhood brings a wholly completely different form of vitality.”
From grief to progress: a Newfoundland lady’s journey again to Ottawa Race Weekend
Discovering goal
Merino’s want to offer again stems from his expertise on the 2024 Ottawa Marathon. He shares that he needed to drop out at kilometre 39 resulting from dehydration. “All I bear in mind is how grateful I used to be for the volunteers and race officers who went the additional mile to assist me,” he remembers.
As an alternative of dwelling on the frustration of a DNF, Merino used the expertise as inspiration to make a distinction. When the race organizers reached out to ask him if he’d prefer to volunteer for 2025, he didn’t hesitate to lift his hand. “I needed to assist different runners go the additional mile and hit their targets,” he says.
Giving again to Ottawa
As a challenge supervisor for an Ottawa-based development administration firm, Merino is not any stranger to giving again to the town—albeit differently. “I’ve labored on tasks throughout Ottawa,” he says, “however this challenge feels completely different. That is giving again in a extra private and energetic approach.”
Final fall, Merino attended an Arc’teryx Run Membership occasion, the place he had the chance to satisfy Jason Dunkerley, a five-time Paralympic T11 medallist and Ottawa native. Dunkerley, who’s visually impaired, runs with the assistance of guides. “I used to be in awe of him,” Merino says. “The concept of operating with out with the ability to see—it’s simply unbelievable.”
Impressed by Dunkerley and his information, Merino lately accomplished his first Achilles information coaching session, and by the tip of 2025, he hopes to turn into an authorized information for visually impaired athletes.
Merino additionally considers himself a run membership nomad, usually attending completely different teams throughout the town. “I’ve met so many superb individuals by operating and volunteering,” he says. “What I really like about Ottawa is that it looks like one massive neighborhood—nobody is sure to only one membership.”
You may be a part of Merino firstly line of the 10K and marathon occasions at Canada’s largest spring race weekend, Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend, on Might 24–25, 2025. Yow will discover extra details about the race or enroll, right here.