Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Quick comeback

Local runner Elizabeth Boylan racing Whistler Half Marathon months after heart surgery
sports_upcoming1-1
COMEBACK PATH Runner Elizabeth Boylan is shown on the stretch of the Valley Trail near Nita Lake where she collapsed because of a heart condition. After open-heart surgery this winter, she s running the Whistler Half Marathon on June 1. Photo by Dan Falloon

Running could very well have been the last thing Elizabeth Boylan ever did.

But with a stroke of luck, the 43-year-old is now using her passion to celebrate the fact that she's still here.

The Whistler runner will line up with more than 800 other runners to run 21.1 kilometres as part of the Whistler Half Marathon this Saturday, June 1.

Last summer, however, Boylan collapsed while jogging on the Valley Trail on the northeast corner of Nita Lake. She rolled down the slope but luckily, came to rest on a log instead of ending up, perilously, in the water. Bikes and runners continued on their way just a few metres up the bank, but Boylan wasn't visible from the trail. She eventually came to and made her way home.

Boylan was born with a heart murmur and doctors discovered that she was born with a bicuspid aortic valve that from an early age, she expected she would need to replace. Boylan developed severe aortic stenosis (the narrowing of the aortic valve opening), and with a life expectancy of two to five years after that diagnosis, open-heart surgery seemed like a very real possibility for Boylan at some point in her life. With surgery as an admittedly scary option, Boylan tried her best to persevere through the symptoms, including shortness of breath (with one doctor describing it as "a horrible way to die," she recalled), for as long as possible while finding other explanations for occurrences even as serious as her collapse—in that case, the poor air quality from nearby wildfires.

"I didn't want to have to have surgery. I wanted to be healthy," she said over coffee at Nita Lake Lodge earlier this month. "I didn't want to be sawed open."

Boylan's condition worsened around Christmas, and the surgery was quickly becoming vital.

Another complication came from Boylan's choice to have the Ross Procedure, which replaces a diseased aortic valve with the pulmonary valve, which itself is replaced with one from a cadaver. The procedure can be difficult to procure in British Columbia, so Boylan had to travel to her hometown of Montreal to have the surgery on Feb. 28. Locally, replacing the valve with a mechanical valve is more common, but for an active runner and snowboarder like Boylan, having to take medications daily, listen to the valve's clicking, and risk serious injury on a fall were not side effects she wanted to deal with. She would also likely require another operation in the future.

The surgery, performed by Dr. Ismail El-Hamamsy at the Institut de cardiologie de Montreal, was a success. As luck would have it, Dr. El-Hamamsy is also a runner and was a strong resource for Boylan.

"Going into surgery, I asked my surgeon 'When can I start training for the New York City Marathon in 2020?' I thought I would need so much recovery time, so I was being conservative. But he said 'Right away,'" she recalled. "They want you moving right away.

"Even in the hospital, I was moving up and down the hall."

Boylan's first run after her operation was a quick 3.5-km effort just 11 days afterward, though it was a painful effort as her sternum was still healing. She was soon able to complete her first 15-km run in nearly two decades, running along the Stanley Park Seawall. It was an emotional experience for Boylan, who lived in downtown Vancouver when she moved to B.C. and would run along there often, generally completing 90 kms in a week.

"I hadn't been able to run 15 kms for 17 years and so it felt really good," she said, noting she had to get her joints to catch up.

Her husband, John, is able to track her runs using the Find My Friends app, and Boylan is also in the process of training a cardiac response dog.

When Boylan told people she would be running again so soon, it took her some time to convince friends and family it was a safe activity. However, she feels like she has more energy than she's had in years.

"At first, they look at you and they're a little bit sorry for you, (saying) 'Be careful,'" she said.

When she lines up on Saturday, Boylan has some basic goals she'd like to achieve: cross the line in under two hours, and keep running.

"I want to run it the whole way. I don't want to walk," she said. "I know I can run 15 kms without walking, and then it's 21 kms."

Boylan is also looking to run the New York City Marathon in 2020 for charity.

Marathon weekend in good shape

Race weekend is shaping up well according to organizer Dave Clark, who said there will be a good-sized field, even if registration is pacing slightly behind recent years, which were high watermarks for the race.

"We can't expect to grow year over year, but the numbers are still solid," he said. "We've got a lot of people coming in from out of town, so it should be a good, busy weekend for all the businesses in town as well."

Race weekend officially starts with guided trail runs on Friday, May 31. The runs, with an easier one at 3:30 p.m. and a more difficult option at 5 p.m., will feature Canadian endurance athlete Rob Krar and local coach John Blok.

After runners complete any of the half marathon of the 30-km, 10-km or five-km distances, there will be a yoga jam through Yogacara on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. by donation to Crohn's and Colitis Canada.

In the evening at 7:30 p.m. is the Trails in Motion 7 film screening at The North Face store with Krar, a Western States 100 and Leadville 100 winner set to present. Tickets are $15, includes a beer or glass of wine, and are available at www.whistlerhalfmarathon.com.

On Sunday morning, the Recover Run with Christine Suter is on at 9 a.m. for those looking to keep their legs moving with a quick five-km run starting at The North Face. If something a little furrier and more low-key is in order, the Dog Jog in support of Whistler Animals Galore is on tap at the PassivHaus, also at 9 a.m.

"We expect to have 40 to 50 dogs and their people out at the PassivHaus," Clark said. "It's a really fun event where the dogs come out. They have to be on a leash, but they can run with their owners in a group environment.

"We mix our passion of animals and running together."