For local Taekwondo instructor Brock Fee, the road to the GoodLife Half Marathon hasn’t been easy, but his stellar showing is a step in the right direction.
A decorated fourth Dan black belt and popular instructor at the family-run Parksville Taekwondo Academy, Fee suffered a serious injury to his left knee last year while preparing for the Canadian Nationals when he tore his Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and was unable to compete.
Fee, 25, received his surgery in May 2012, followed by a grueling six month rehabilitation process before he could start training again. Best known for his Taekwondo, he also enjoys competing in other sports, and as such decided to take a run at the half marathon.
Fast forward to Oct. 13 and Fee did just that. Part of a field of 4,673 competitors that ran the 21.1 km Victoria race, he finished in the top four per cent. His time of 1:34:11 earned him 206th overall and 30th out of 206 in the competitive M25-30 age division.
According to Fee’s brother, Brett, “when Brock first started training 10 months ago, he could barely run one kilometer without being winded or his knee throbbing in pain. He still decided to do the 2013 Vancouver Marathon which was back in May, and he only had seven months to prepare for the race.”
Fee finished that one with a time of 1:32:20, finishing 221 overall out of 8,500 people.
Brock said this has been an experimental year for him, seeing how his knee reacts to training and the stresses of running, but with the two races under his belt, he said he has now set new goals in a new sport and is looking forward to his second chance at competing at an elite level.
“It’s funny how you can go from barely making it up a flight of stairs on crutches to being in the top four per cent at a race,” said Brock.