Adam Hammond
Other Obsessions
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I love running. I started when I was 35, when a friend challenged me to run a marathon with him, and I surprised us both by finishing in under 3 hours (2:56, to be precise). I have since won several national titles and even an international one in masters (old person) running. I briefly held a very niche Canadian national record: the M35 indoor mile. I’m hoping to snag some more records this summer, when I turn 45. One of the highlights of my life was winning the M35 division at the Fifth Avenue Mile in 2019. In 2022, at the age of 41, I ran 2:00.03 for 800m, coming hilariously close to my goal. My other PBs of note are 4:09 for 1500m, 4:27 for the mile, 9:03 for 3000m (indoor), 15:15 for 5k, 32:09 for 10k, 1:15 for the half-marathon, and 2:47 for the marathon, most of these in my 40s.
* * * *I also love reading about running, and writing about running.
* * * *I used to love bicycles. In grad school, I learned how to make (braze) steel-framed bicycles. One of the highlights of my life was showing my Greg Curnoe bike at the Art Gallery of Ontario. But since I found running, I have stopped riding or being obsessed with bicycles.
* * * *I love stereos. I have a really complicated stereo. The key pieces are my beryllium-coned Yamaha NS-1000 speakers, my homemade Paradise phono stage, and my homemade turntables (I have two, one for stereo, one for mono).
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