The reigning champion of the Community Futures Dinosaur Valley Half Marathon now has a chance to represent Canada in an ultra marathon championship.
    Justin Kurek has a connection to the area, not just through his running but he is also married to Audrey Kurek, nee Trentham.
    On Sunday June 1, he ran in his first 50 kilometer ultra marathon. This was a special event to mark the Scotiabank Calgary Marathon’s 50th anniversary.
    For his first ultra, he did pretty good…very good… he won.

Audrey Kurek, nee Trentham, and Justin Kurek at the finish line of the Calgary Marathon. Justin won the 50 kilometer ultra race and qualified for an international championship in Qatar in October.

    “Sunday was my first ultra, I am mostly a marathon kind of guy and did the 50K out of it being a special anniversary in town and a unique opportunity to have a 50K road race, and I decided I just had to do it,” he told The Mail.
       It was more than just a special event, the 50K run doubled as the National 50K Road Race Championship.    
    “It is a part of a series of 18 races between 2013 and 2014. What they do is take the winner of each race and the fastest times and invite the athletes to Qatar for what he calls the World Trophy Final,” he explains.
    “I don’t have all the details, but I imagine I qualified and I should be there in October.”
    Until now, he has mostly competed in North America.
    “I have competed throughout the United States, whether it be half marathons or marathons,” he said.
    Some of the most notable include the Boston Marathon. Last November he took on the Strip at Night Marathon in Las Vegas and finished third. He was the first Canadian to the podium in the race.
     He is not sure what path his training will take him preparing for the race in Qatar, but if he is able, he will attend the Dinosaur Half again.
    “If nothing else, I would love to come out and run the half marathon again and be a part of the community race, it is such a great opportunity and event.”
    To mark the fifth anniversary of the Drumheller road race, It is hosting a full marathon, along with its 5K, 10k and half marathon offerings on Sunday September 14. Already there are close 10 entries in the “big one.”

    Author Carol Lee will be through the area next week to promote her ninth work Out of Winter.
    Lee is an author and journalist who has worked in British newspapers, radio and TV.  She also taught in London schools, as a visiting lecturer in London’s City University Department of Journalism, and as a Fellow at Westminster University.
    Born in South Wales UK, she spent much of her childhood in Africa before returning to the UK to begin a career in journalism. 
    Her first book, The Ostrich Position (1986), is an account of her experience teaching sex education in London schools.  It was widely filmed and defended by both teachers and students in numerous debates. It was followed by eight other narrative non-fiction books, and one play.
    Out of Winter, released in February, is a personal account of a universal subject: the unfolding nature of relationships with parents as they age and approach the ends of their lives.  She depicts the sense of loss and longing at the heart of her family, and the journey to renewal.
    Lee will be presenting at the Delia Library on Tuesday, June 10 at 7 p.m., and then at the Drumheller Public Library Wednesday, June 11 at 7 p.m.