The race to become a full-fledged Canadian can’t come fast enough for Jacob Puzey — and Puzey is fast.
The American runner and coach, who has lived in Calgary for the past two years with his Canadian wife, Amy Golumbia Puzey, was the first Canadian-registered runner across the finish line at this year’s Boston Marathon in April.
“Anytime someone wants to refer to me an almost-Canadian, I’ll take that,” says Puzey, 34. “I didn’t even realize that was the position I was in.”
Puzey finished 37th overall in a time of 2:26.52 among a field of 30,074 runners, including 2,106 Canadians, to earn his distinction. For Puzey, well known on the ultra circuit, it was his first road marathon in five years. His brother Thomas placed 16th in 2:18.20.
“I fell in love with Amy and Canada long before anyone thought it was possible for Trump to be president,” says Puzey, a PhD who taught English to people in migrant communities in the United States — people who didn’t have an easy time being recognized as citizens.
“Canada is my home and it has felt like home since the second I stepped off the airplane the very first time. While my “refugee” status is nowhere near people leaving horrible conditions, I came here looking for a better life and found it in spades, or should I say, maple leaves.”
Waiting for his work permit, Puzey is dad to year-old daughter, Ashima, born five weeks premature, amid serious health concerns.
“We were told she wouldn’t make it even a couple of weeks,” says Puzey. “But she’s a fighter and she just fought.”
… Kind of like her dad.
