Next week I am immersing deeper into the Canadian experience by taking my racing season on tour and heading northeast from Vancouver to a city I have never stepped foot in, but am drawn to explore because it is the city that my grandfather, Leonard Kelly, a man I never met, was born and raised, the land of the legendary Oilers, Edmonton, Alberta. Thereby my sixty-seventh marathon, the Edmonton Marathon, is almost a “hometown” race.
Edmonton, Alberta.
I do not know much about my grandfather because he died decades before I entered the picture, and out of respect for my Dad I have not wanted to press him for details that might upset him, but time is ticking for all of us, and since I have felt a sincere sense of familiarity living in Canada these past seven months, and confirming that my grandfather was from Edmonton after signing up for the race, I wanted to learn more about him before I romp around his old stomping grounds for 26.2 miles.
Therefore, I recently asked my Dad and my Aunt Corrie some questions about both of their parents and learned the following priceless nuggets of our family origin story. My grandfather was a hockey player who moved to Los Angeles just after graduating high school to play hockey for Loyola Marymount University. Then during a home game, a gorgeous and lively hockey fan spotted him from the stands while attending the game with her mother, and declared, “I want to meet that player, ##, I am going to marry him.” Soon after calling her shot, my grandmother, Coralie Bethea, did indeed meet that dashing hockey player, Leonard Kelly, and they fell in love, got married, and settled in Santa Monica, California with their four amazing children, Leonard, Patrick, Peter, and Coralie.
Screen Left to right: My Uncle Pat, my Uncle Len (I think?), my Grandfather Leonard, my Grandmother Coralie, and my Dad, Peter, (I think?) in my Grandfather’s arms. My Aunt Corrie is not pictured, but made her debut not long after. PC: My brother, Peter.
According to family lore, my grandfather never returned to Canada after he moved to America. He became a US citizen after marrying my grandmother and never brought his family back to Edmonton to visit, or to share stories firsthand about where and how he grew up, but one of his descendants, an athlete just like him, would find a way.
Back-alley photo shoot after finishing my last long run last Saturday.
I wonder if my grandfather ever imagined that he would have granddaughters. My guess is that he didn’t bet on having a granddaughter who would become a voracious runner who would meet and fall in love with a Texan, meeting each other while both working in film and television post production in southern California, and then pursue a career that pulled them north to Canada, a country that promises preferable tax credits for U.S. filming projects, and also a surprise Leonard’s red-headed granddaughter did not expect, a tug at her roots.
Naturally, it all makes sense why I’ve enjoyed and felt connected to life in Canada more than I expected to, I have history here, and I want to make history here.
From Left: My Dad, yours truly, and my Stepmother, Sally, moments after the best race of my life (so far) Ironman Arizona, 2017.
I’ve never experienced what it feels like to have a grandfather cheering me on from the sidelines, but my Dad has been present at countless soccer games, softball games, track meets, marathons, and triathlons… cheering me on for decades. His support has meant the world to me. So, although my Dad will be at home relaxing next Sunday, as he should be, I am thrilled and honored to add to the Kelly legacy by creating my own story while running a marathon through the streets of Edmonton.