By: Tim Huebsch

Vancouver – As the Canadian Cross Country Championships approach, athletes are beginning their taper in efforts of gearing up for the big race November 30. Safe to say, most athletes haven’t been as busy as Point Grey’s Rob Watson in 2013, who’s toughed out four marathons in the span of seven months along with the Canadian 10km Championships and countless other road races. Watson will give-it-a-go one last time before packing it in for 2013 as he will compete for PTGR come the end of November.

In a year highlighted by a 20th place finish at the World Championships, winning the Canadian Marathon Championships, leading the Boston Marathon for significant portions and setting a new personal best en route to a sixth place finish at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, Watson looks to test out his fitness over 10k on the cross-country course.

“It’s just too much fun to pass up,” said Watson in regards to running Canadian XCs. “The body feels great after Toronto, I’ve been gently easing back into running and have a lot of fitness left in the legs,” even though he may or may not have gotten “nice and fat” after his marathon finale, jokes Watson.  

Rob currently trains under coach (and brother) Pete Watson and spent a chunk of the summer in Virginia in a build up towards the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, getting in some good training and a few tune-up races. Watson set an eight-second lifetime best eclipsing his previous mark set in 2012 in Rotterdam and was the second Canadian finisher, a successful end to his marathon season.

With setting a personal best of 2:13:29 and placing 20th at the IAAF World Championships in mind, he looks to build on that marathon success in the New Year with more confidence and motivation than ever.

“That race was incredibly satisfying,” added Watson when asked about his marathon in Moscow, one where nearly a third of the field DNF'd largely due to extreme heat.

“Probably the best execution of a race plan I have ever done. I was hoping for top-25 with top-20 as the ultimate goal. When I crossed the line in 20th I was pumped as hell. We had a great plan going out there, and for myself to actually stick to it and pull it off was rad. I felt pretty terrible for the 1st 16km of that race, but I stayed focused and positive and was able to run a decent race. I learned a lot about the marathon and about myself as a competitor out there. Just gave me confidence in my overall running, makes me believe that I am capable of smashing a great marathon one of these day.”

The last time we saw Robbie battling it out on the cross country course was in 2010, the final year that Guelph hosted the event after a four year stint, where he came second to Cam Levins, who was bursting on the running scene at the time. Watson led the better part of the race after dictating the pace early on but Levins nipped him in the latter stages of the race to take the victory. With that said, despite the popularity of his infamous FFTF (Fade From The Front) mentality, Watson’s goals are a tad more conservative this year.

“There is always an urge to get after it and pull the good ole’ FFTF, but not this year,” hinted Watson. “I am not fit enough to challenge for the win as Point Grey has a great club squad and have some boys whom are gonna roll out there. My job is to come in as the fourth or fifth guy and hopefully we can secure that title.”

Now situated in Vancouver once again, look for Watson to be rolling in Pacific Spirit Park from time to time and putting in work at UBC, home to the Point Grey Track Club and Rashpal Dhillon Track Centre.

With November 30 marking the end of his 2013 season, 2014 looks to be a bit of a mixed menu in terms of what distances Watson will focus on.

“I love road racing, so I’ll hit a bunch of those,” added Watson. “I have never run a 10k on the track so I want to hit a fast one this year. Then I’m going to take all the shorter sexy stuff and combine it with some long grinding sessions in hopes of nailing a late spring marathon.”

You can follow Rob on his highly entertaining blog here