From Collegiate Basketball to Marathon Runner

Jacob Simmons and his family have a farm that grows cranberries, tart cherries, highbush blueberries, raspberries and black currants in beautiful Point Prim, Prince Edward Island. They also own and operate a tile drainage company that installs agricultural land drainage in New Brunswick and in PEI, and Jacob works with his father on both operations.

As a former basketball player, he had an invitation-only tryout for Team Canada's National Cadet squad with two future #1 overall NBA draft picks in the mix as well as various other NCAA division one players. He also played at St. FX University, Holland College and Olds College. After leaving college and losing the ability to run and exercise fully (due to injury) for a year, he was bitten by the running bug and came back onto the scene with a vengeance.

It was a major year of change for him. He overcame a broken wrist, torn meniscus and an ulcer in his cornea which led him to quit cigarettes and lose 40 pounds. He went from not competing in any road races for almost ten years to running in 27 races including his first marathon and also a 3000+ person race in Galway, Ireland.

That year, 2019, Jacob didn't start racing or even running outdoors until May and he was able to accomplish a lot in 8 months. He challenged himself to start off this new decade by running a half marathon (he never ran an official half marathon race before attempting his first full marathon) in each of the four Atlantic provinces, the "Hypothermic Half Marathon" series hosted by the Running Room, with a goal of a top 10 finish in all four provinces.

After completing the winter half marathon gauntlet he will begin training for his second marathon in May, and less than two weeks after running that he will compete in the scenic Cabot Trail Relay race in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia with a 20km run up Mt. Smokey.

He also have his eyes set on his first duathlon and maybe an ultra race this year as well as biking from one end of Prince Edward Island to the other in one day using the Confederation trail systems for a total of 273kms. Jacob knows he has a lot to learn, but he’s enjoying every step he’s taken to date in finding a new fitness passion.