Feet have yet to fail Aurora’s George Biondic

October 9, 2013 · 0 Comments

By Brock Weir

George Biondic is a man on the run.

With an eye to races ahead, the 61-year-old athlete works to keep his feet in tip-top condition after they have carried him through world record-busting feats for people in his age bracket. But, as a child, running was less of a hobby than a necessity.

Biondic was recognized last month for his achievements on the local and world stages by the Town in their annual Community Recognition Awards. For him, being recognized by his local government was one of the pinnacles in his athletic career.

“My love of running originated when I was a young kid and we were very poor,” he says. “My father used to give me money to take a bus to school, but we were so poor the only way I could save money was pocketing the money for the bus and simply running to school and back.”

As a child, however, he grew up in what is now Croatia. It was then under communist rule, and stories about the freedoms in North America almost seemed mythical, he says. The adage that anything was possible with a little hard work a determination “really hit home” in his young mind.

“It was enchanting,” he said of the idea, noting his father had made several attempts to flee as a refugee before being captured and imprisoned. “On the third attempt, he figured out a very elaborate plan with my mom and the rest of us that nobody would suspect. He trusted me and my younger sister – we were seven and three – that we would tell no one, no neighbours.”

The plan, he said, was to head to their grandfather’s farm. From there, they took a train close to the German border, but held back a bit when the rest of the people headed from the platform.

“We could see people working in the fields, so we ran across this field to the forest and walked through the woods until nightfall. My father got some water, some food, and everyone had something to carry.”

They eventually hit the boarder by morning and were assisted by a family in catching the bus. The driver sensed their plans, but he gave young George a chocolate bar and reassurances they would be fine. They were, and after six months in a German refugee camp, they arrived in St. John, NB.
The events of his childhood, however, put him in good stead for the future, he argues.

“I personally feel that being poor was a real advantage,” he said. “I knew that if I wanted anything in life, I had to work for it. I was 18 years old when I planned out the rest of my life monetarily. There was a sense of self-reliance and every time I took a step closer to my goal, I was encouraged and success breeds success.”

After a career in computer operations, before rounding out his working life at Revenue Canada, the one thing that was missing was someone to share it with. When he married Erlinda in the 1980s, he says he finally had a sense of purpose. Since their marriage, she has not only been his partner, but the key ingredient to his success on foot on the open road.

“As a kid growing up I wanted to make my parents proud. It is the same thing with my relationship with my wife. I don’t want to disappoint her. She is my number one thing in my life. Take her out of the picture, I have got nothing.”

She encouraged him when he started running in earnest by the age of 50. That is when he says he “truly” started running, despite already having over 30 major marathons under his belt. Moving away from marathon running to ultra-running, he set the Canadian Age Record this year for men 60 – 64, and there is no stopping him.

He recently completed a three day marathon in the United States and despite the physical challenges, he finds it is a great stress buster.
Some of his favourite places to run are in Death Valley, California, where the scorching heat is a personal challenge, and a challenge he has overcome several times.

When he’s not pushing his body to the limit, he and Erlinda also like to take more pedestrian hikes – well, pedestrian for those who have stared down Death Valley and won – along the Camino de Santiago, which winds its way through the Pyrenees in France and Spain, as well as closer to home along the 800km Bruce Trail.

“It almost becomes spiritual, and I am not a spiritual person” he says. “I want to take advantage of life. I figure when they bury me, I have the rest of eternity to do nothing. While I’ve got this time, I want to take advantage of it.”