Sports 28 SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2011 f d lBare oot, an oving every minute By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR He will be one of the oldest participants in this weekends Oakville Half Marathon, but Alan Thwaits will run the race as if hes one of the youngest. The 63-year-old Mississauga resident will run Sundays race in the same fashion he always runs barefoot. Some runners who have gone from shoes to bare- foot dont even race anymore, because theyve discov- ered something else about running that matters. Its fun, says Thwaits. You run through puddles, you feel like a kid. You smile at people more often. Childhood nostalgia isnt the biggest reason Thwaits chooses to run without shoes, however. Its all part of his rediscovery of his love of running. Overcame broken hip, prostate cancer Three years ago, Thwaits was just getting back into running after a 30-year hiatus from the sport. He had initially started running in 1978 in order to lose weight, but a busy work and family life soon led him to choose cycling instead. Thwaits had gone through a lot during that 30-year period, most of it recently. In 2005, he broke his hip when he was hit by a truck during a training ride on his bike. Later that year, Thwaits was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Thwaits underwent treatment for both conditions radiation to combat the cancer, and 14 months of physiotherapy to recover from the broken hip. He was told by an orthopedic surgeon that he would never be able to run again. I said, Lets see, Thwaits recalls. I would be happy if I was functional. One of the doctors had told me that if the truck had been six inches over to one side, Id be dead. But in a sense, that 14 months of physio, three times a week, was sort of like training. Whether youre a cyclist or a runner or a soccer player or a tennis player, you might go out three times a week and do something because you have a goal ahead of you, he f adds. Your goals are incremental. I wanted to get of crutches, then be able to stand, then to walk, then to run. It led to a rediscovery of the love of running. And I discovered I could run longer distances. Shortly after he got back into running, Thwaits read about barefoot running, something he saw as a growing movement. Thwaits read that when people run more naturally, theyre less susceptible to injury, that there was less impact on the hips and knees run- ning barefoot than in shoes. If you transition to running barefoot, you will run more naturally. Your feet become stronger, your legs become stronger, your back becomes stronger, he says. You stand up straight. If you watch people run (in shoes), they land on their heel. It sends a huge jolt up your body, but you cant do that when youre bare- footing. Its impossible. It hurts too much. So you pitter-patter, do fox-running, land with a mid-foot stride, or you have a shorter stride and a faster cadence. Switch to barefoot took some adjusting The transition to barefoot running took some adjusting, Thwaits said. He admits it slowed him down at first, but he now runs at the same speed as he did 30 years ago. Thwaits exclusively runs barefoot now, whether its the eight-kilometre route he takes to work each day or a half-marathon, 30K race, full marathon or 50K ultraBARE MINIMUM: Mississauga resident Alan Thwaits, 63, will run barefoot in Sundays Oakville Half Marathon, the way he runs every race. PHOTO SUBMITTED h' f d f d fMacIntos s time comes in irst roun o NLL ra t By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF A players draft day can be stressful. For most, sitting and waiting to hear their name called, they cant be picked soon enough. Having driven home after his final class in Rochester, Jordan MacIntosh found himself stuck in Toronto traffic Wednesday when the National Lacrosse League entry draft began, and he was hoping he wouldnt be picked. A player valued for his hustle and tim- ing, MacIntosh climbed the draft rank- ings and was projected as a top-five pick. But 15 minutes after the draft started, he was sprinting through the parking lot of the Toronto Don Valley Hotel hoping he hadnt missed his big moment. I was literally walking down the stairs to the ballroom when I heard them announce Minnesotas pick, MacIntosh said. I walked through the doors and went right to the stage. I was right on time. The Swarm selected the 22-year-old former Oakville Buzz player with the fourth overall pick in Wednesdays draft. Before last year, if you had told me I was going to be a top-five pick in the NLL, I would have said 'Youre crazy,' MacIntosh said. But MacIntosh climbed the draft boards with his stellar play at every stop. In his final year of junior, he racked up 81 points in 22 games while winning 69 per cent of his faceoffs. In his senior season at RIT, he led the Tigers in scoring with 43 goals and 75 points while leading the team to the NCAA Division III semifi- nals. It was the Oakville natives first season in the OLAs Major Series Lacrosse that really elevated his draft status, however. f Playing in a league that included many o the NLLs top stars, he led the Ajax- Pickering Rock in scoring and was named the leagues rookie of the year. MacIntosh said those 17 games were vital to his development. I played against some amazing play- ers in junior, guys who are going to play IN DEMAND: Jordan MacIntosh, pictured in action with the Burlington Junior A Chiefs, was the fourth-overall pick in Wednesday's National Lacrosse League draft. OAKVILLE BEAVER FILE PHOTO d d h fProstate cancer survivor re iscovere is passion or running See Cold, page 28 See MacIntosh, page 28 w w w .i n si d eH A LT O N .c o m O A K V IL LE B EA V ER Fr id ay , S ep te m be r 23 , 2 01 1 2 8