My guest for the latest episode of the Masters Milers podcast is Paul Osland. Paul was an elite 800m runner in his youth. He was a member of the Canadian national team from 1987 – 1992 during which time he competed at the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, Pan American Games and many other international events. As a masters athlete, Paul won 16 World Masters Indoor and Outdoor Championship medals. In addition to being a great competitor, Paul also contributes a tremendous amount to masters track and field. He coaches a large group of masters runners who train at the University of Toronto where he competed and he also very involved in the leadership of Masters Athletics in Canada. The next World Masters Athletics Championships are being held in Toronto this summer and Paul was part of the team that helped organize Toronto’s bid to host the games.

We spoke about Paul’s background as a sprinter before moving to the 800, how he initially was planning to move up to the marathon as he approached age, but wisely decided to return to his roots on the track. Paul is someone I really admire for his contributions to the sport and his consistent excellence as both an athlete and a coach for many years, despite battling injuries throughout his masters career. I hope you enjoy our conversation.

Show Links:

Paul’s open running stats: https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/os/paul-osland-1.html

Announcement of Paul’s appointment as CEO of Athletics Ontario: https://ontariomasters.ca/latest-oma-news/paul-osland-appointed-chief-executive-officer-athletics-ontario/

Video of Masters Exhibition 800m at the 2015 IAAF World Championship: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqGewc4xcgE&t=441s

You can catch the latest episode on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts ,TuneIn and Spotify.