By Bird Bouchard
As Magog resident Daniel Taillon crossed the finish line in the 2023 Tokyo Marathon, he was awarded the Six Star medal, completing a challenge that many marathon runners can only dream of.
In order to be awarded the Six Star medal, runners must complete six prestigious marathon races across the globe in Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago, and New York City.
As of December 2022, only 331 Canadians had completed the six majors included in the Abbott World Marathon Majors category. That number will be higher now, Taillon explained, since he and other Canadians who completed the recent Tokyo marathon will be added to the tally.
Raised in Bury until his 20s, Taillon has lived in the Townships his entire life, now calling Magog home, where he’s been working as a programmer for a local shop. Despite his recent accomplishment, he said he hasn’t always been an avid runner.
“In my early 20s I’d run about five kilometers a few times a week and go to the gym. I stopped that until 2012,” said Taillon. “I was working all day in the office in front of a computer and after work I would go to the gym. One day I decided I didn’t want to be inside the whole time so I started running again.”
