Through rain, sleet and snow, Mary Lollar is her own force of nature.
Sitting at a picnic table on a rainy day in Toronto's High Park, the senior citizen looks out on the cold, soggy conditions and muses, 鈥淚鈥檝e ran in 30 below, I鈥檝e ran in 17 below.鈥�
Anyone who has had the pleasure of sitting down with the 71-year-old will admit there鈥檚 something about Mary.
Donning her maple leaf bandana, fresh from her most recent morning run, Lollar appears to have surprised herself.
鈥淚 tell you, if you want to challenge yourself, maybe don鈥檛 pick running three years in a row,鈥� she says breaking out in a laugh that's mostly directed at herself.
It may seem improbable - even impossible to some - but each day for the last three years, Lollar has laced up her shoes, put one foot in front of the other, and headed out for a run. And in case we weren't sure if she was keeping count, she leans in with a grin and says, 鈥淭hat鈥檚 1,095 days.鈥�
It all began in March of 2020. Before that day, Lollar admits, she鈥檇 never been much of a runner, telling CTV National News, 鈥淚 went to the gym, went on the treadmill and watched TV.鈥� Then, as it did for many Canadians, the pandemic put the brakes on her life. Lollar was unsure of what to do with herself. Somewhat pragmatically she notes, 鈥淭he gyms were closed. The sidewalks were open."
The then-68-year-old hit the open sidewalks and began running five or six kilometres a day, working her way up to 13 or 14 kilometres.
鈥淚鈥檝e gone through four or five pairs of shoes.鈥�
Lollar admits with a grin, 鈥淚 no longer have the nicest looking feet.鈥�
As the senior found her running legs, she began taking the heel-toe-express into work at Toronto General Hospital's Respiratory Clinic. Sometime during this running journey, with the effects of COVID-19 heavy on her mind, she began thinking to herself, 鈥淚magine not being able to breathe. Imagine getting COVID and dying and nobody being able to come and see me.鈥�
Her runs quickly went from being a personal mental health release to taking on a higher purpose, with each step dedicated to the health-care workers and patients struggling under the weight of COVID-19.
As Lollar ran, she thought, 鈥淚 can breathe and they can't." She adds, 鈥淭hese are people who don鈥檛 take the next breath for granted and we do.鈥�
One of the many individuals who marvel at Mary is her former boss at Toronto General, Dr. John Granton.
鈥淓veryone who鈥檚 worked with Mary knows that she has a huge heart,鈥� says Dr. Granton, an ICU doctor. 鈥淓ven other runners who鈥檇 see her out running into work every day couldn鈥檛 believe what they were seeing her do day in, day out.鈥�
Dr. Granton laughs as he reflects on a prediction he鈥檚 made about Mary and the real life similarities she shares with the fictional character Forrest Gump: 鈥淪he's going to start taking up ping pong. I don't know what it's going to be next, but it's going to be some marathon of some sort.鈥�
Lollar herself said of her feat, 鈥淪ometimes I don鈥檛 believe I鈥檝e done it.鈥�
Way back in December of 2020 her husband pointed out that she hadn鈥檛 missed a day since March and asked her if she thought she could do a full year.
鈥淚 said sure. Then he and others asked if I could do two years. I said OK. But I have to admit this third year has been hard.鈥�
There鈥檝e been times when she felt she had hit the end of the road and couldn鈥檛 go on any further. But then someone would wave at her as she ran by and shout a word of encouragement, and that kept her going.
She now shares her running adventures on her , which has 5,500 followers. Laughing at herself and her social media videos she admits there鈥檚 鈥渘ot a lot of makeup on sometimes. A little scary sometimes, but that鈥檚 me.鈥�
When asked what running for three years straight has taught her about herself, Lollar says it's proven to her that 鈥測ou can do anything. I don鈥檛 care how old you are. I don鈥檛 care how out of shape you are. If you can鈥檛 run, walk. Soon enough you鈥檒l find yourself moving faster.鈥�
Moving forward, Lollar says, she's simply going to run to challenge herself, without the personal pressure of traversing multiple kilometres each and every day.
So what鈥檚 Mary Lollar going to do tomorrow?
The soon-to-be-72-year-old laughs and with a youthful grin admits, 鈥淚鈥檓 going to run. I will probably end up running every day.鈥�
