March 29, 2024

BY JUSTIN FORD

Conestoga College will be represented in the upcoming Boston Marathon by a teacher.

Roger Enns is a 47-year-old mechanical engineering professor who has completely turned his life around. He will compete in the gruelling 26.2-mile race April 20, 2015.

Enns wasn’t always in peak physical condition, in fact, he didn’t start getting into shape until he turned 42. Now, Enns has astounding drive, passion and fire for running.

“The weight loss was a secondary thing,” Enns said. “It does become an addiction.”

Running helped the former 205-pound Enns get into great shape, which in turn helped him eventually shatter his goal of wanting to be able to run five kilometres.

The Ayr, Ont. native joined a running club in Paris, Ont., and never looked back.

“If I hadn’t committed, if I didn’t have that group, I would have quit,” Enns said.

He became extremely dedicated and eventually fell in love with running. His wife and two teenage children have been nothing but supportive.

“They’ve been great,” Enns said. “But they do kind of roll their eyes a bit.

“I don’t even think they notice I’m gone,” he said jokingly.

He runs at least four days a week, sometimes as far as 25 kilometres a day. It’s extremely time-consuming, but beyond rewarding.

Although the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings are still on people’s minds, Enns said he’s not worried about something like that happening again, though he understands global events are always targets.

He said his initial goal for the race was to just finish, but now he wants to finish strong.

Despite qualifying for the marathon, Enns does have some regrets. One is that it took him 42 years to get into shape. He hopes now that it is something he’ll always love doing.

“For me, it’s the completion of a bucket list goal that I didn’t dream possible,” he said.

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