Edmonton man running in 100th marathon says pea soup is his secret

A 73-year-old Edmonton man will be running in his 100th marathon on Sunday as part of the Servus Edmonton Marathon.

When asked what his secret is, Ken Davison said, “I think it’s the pea soup, believe it or not.”

“There’s supposed to be a lot of protein in it, and it’s suppose to stop you from getting cramps later on in the run, because I was getting cramps before I tried the soup.”

Davison said he started running after moving to Canada from Ireland in 1967. The majority of his races have been in Canada, with a few in the United States. This weekend he will be wearing the number 100.

“I think I’ll take it easy in this one, just enjoy the atmosphere,” Davison said.

“A lot of people said they wanted to jump in and get a photo with me with my 100th number on.”

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Davison said he’s been having trouble lately finding Campbell’s pea soup, his favourite brand, so his wife has offered to make her own.

“My wife said she’ll step in and try to make a lentil soup the same as Campbells. That might be scary.”

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Davison has been running in the Servus Edmonton Marathon since it began 27 years ago. This year, organizers are expecting 5,000 participants over the race weekend.

“We’re fortunate to have a very competitive field, one that we have not seen in the history of this event,” said Brian Torrance, elite athlete coordinator, Thursday morning. “We do have returning champions, Olympians, aspiring Olympians and local elites. Put that all together that makes for a very competitive field.”

Runners are preparing to contend with poor air quality due to smoky conditions.

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“I feel really sorry for them if they have to drop out after putting months and months of training in,” Davison said.

Organizers say they are closely monitoring the air quality and runners can run a shorter race is they choose.

The Servus Edmonton Marathon includes a 42.2km marathon, 21.1km half marathon, 10km run, and 5km run. Shorter walks and runs are being held Saturday at the Shaw Conference Centre and ReMax Field.