Member Spotlight
Dave Bolan
July 2025
If you've come to any WGTC group runs, you've likely met one of our most loyal and active members, Dave Bolan. Dave is from Central Ontario and currently works and resides in downtown Carrollton. He is a Finance professional, and self-described hobbyist magician and poker player, concert goer and skeptic of several sports teams.
Dave started running in 2008 when his fit wife, Sandy, offered him a jug of beer if he completed the weekly run with the community group she ran with. While this was the catalyst that started his running journey, he continues to run to stay fit, be social, and to challenge himself.
Dave has since completed 228 races, mostly road running, but also multisport, including 33 marathons, three ultramarathons and seven Beer Miles. Which of these races has been Dave’s favorite? “The EndurRun, which bills itself as the Tour de France of running, is my favourite event,” he says. “It is an eight-day series of events culminating in a marathon on the final day. It is a family-run event that forms a community over the week. I am still friends with many of the 2014 and 2015 competitors.”
He says that his greatest running accomplishment was taking the journey from a single run as a 35-year old to a single sub-3:30:00 marathon at age 41, which, he says, all came together that day as he ran the Toronto Marathon to great cheers in an oversized Toronto Raptors jersey on the morning of a playoff-deciding game seven.
Dave shares that his favorite local running routes are anywhere he encounters smiling faces. “So weekly group runs with West Georgia Track Club or Sole Roots, my wife or my dogs, who are also WGTC members, (Yes, the dogs are members, too!) are what I look forward to,” he explains, adding, “Any route around the perimeter of Lake Carroll, Tanner Lake, or Richards Lake is a bonus.”
Dave is a regular, friendly face at the WGTC group runs and events. He says that he joined the club when he was a periodic visitor to town and was introduced to it by his “groovy” coworker, Jonathan Burke (one of the founders of WGTC and a former Board member). Dave states, “I have since made many friends through the club and look forward to keeping the club accessible to newcomers.”
Pictured: Dave Bolan at the 2014 EndurRun Marathon.
Come run with Dave and other members of WGTC at our next group run! Check out our Monthly Calendar for details.