“I Ran 12 Hours a Day”: Joan Roch, the Man Behind the Impossible Challenges

For 13 years, Joan Roch has run to work in Montreal, turning the daily commute into a way of life. The Quebec-based runner is also a larger-than-life adventurer, capable of challenges worthy of the sport’s greats. In a video call lasting nearly two hours, he spoke about his evolution, his fears and his achievements. A fascinating story.

A wild story. A rare gem. An extraordinary life. Summer and winter. Day and night. Joan Roch has made running his therapy. His way to express himself, assert himself and find out who he is. For three years, simply getting out of bed was a puzzle. He ran his first marathon in 2007, then the Ultimate XC XTrail de Saint-Donat in 2010. The father of a young family could not fit his training hours around his job as a computer scientist in Montreal. There was never enough time, and the effort was too much. In January 2012, the long-haired runner embarked on an unexpected adventure: running to work. An incredibly effective New Year's resolution, especially after his bike was stolen. “I lived 10 km away”, he recalls. “I did it in the morning and evening, five days a week. I was lucky enough to have showers at the office.”

With no pressure and no stopwatch, the ultramarathoner explored every corner of Quebec's metropolis. For a year, he filmed himself and turned it into a viral video. The finisher of the Grand Raid de la Réunion in 2015 (42:42:30, 355th) still remembers it vividly, including magical moments on the frozen Saint Lawrence River. “I felt free. I was completely alone. Just running 200 meters would transport you to another planet.” A rebirth. “The worse the conditions were, the more impatient I was to get out and run. I even forgot I was running.”

Meaningful back-and-forths. In the United States, the athlete reached the podium at the 100-mile Virgil Crest Ultras in 2013 (25:40:00), in brutal conditions with just 18 finishers, including two women. “The race director told me I had finished third. I wasn't expecting that.” After eight attempts to break three hours for the marathon, the lecturer finally reached the holy grail over the classic distance in Toronto, running 2:48:32 in 2014. The following year, he completed four ultramarathons, including the UTMB (33:02:02, 208th). The end of a first chapter, which he recounts in his book Ultra-Ordinaire: Journal D’un Coureur.

After taking 2016 off, the runner originally from Poitiers found his spark again during the pandemic. One outrageous challenge. His own challenge. “I chose Gaspésie, a peninsula in east-central Quebec, as my starting point, and headed for Montreal”, he explains. “It was a revelation. Organizing everything myself was really cool. I wasn't tied to any races.” Alone with his backpack, a bus ticket in hand and sandals on his feet, the adventurer set off in 2020.

“Enjoyable? No. Interesting? Definitely.”

“People had nothing better to do than help me”, the fifty-something-year-old says with a smile. Along Route 132, Joan Roch was taken in by strangers and followed by drivers who brought him supplies. “If I asked for an iced coffee, I'd have one waiting for me 5 km later”, he recalls. By the end of the second day, illness caught up with him. “My leg was swollen. It was a bacterial skin infection.” After seeing a specialist, the doctor gave him the all-clear to continue his expedition. “I was running 12 hours a day. Every step hurt.”

“I felt my brain's way of working change”, he adds. After covering more than 1,100 km on pavement in 14 days, the Quebec-based runner reached his goal. “Enjoyable? No. Interesting? Definitely.” A colossal challenge, not without psychological consequences. “It took me two months to get back to training and teach my brain that running didn't have to hurt.” Always curious, the distance runner still wants more. In 2023, Joan Roch set out to cover the 8,000 km separating Key West, Florida, from Forillon in Gaspésie. His run from Percé to Montreal now looks like a short outing…

After 3,700 km and 105 days, the blue-eyed runner decided to end his journey. “The challenge was no longer there.” An enriching experience. “I learned to slow down. On the Appalachian Trail, if you move too fast, you miss some incredible conversations. You have to make time for those stories.” Since COVID-19, his running commute has become less frequent, thanks to working from home. “I also started strength training”, he says, his biceps bulging. Once reluctant to run in a group, he and his wife Anne have discovered the magic of running together over the past few years. This summer, the group will be roaming around France, heading to the track-and-field paradise of Font-Romeu. Don't worry: he won't be running 100 km every day.

Out of sight, close to the heart. His stepdaughter Laure and his children Aimée, Maël and Aurélie, aged 11, 13, 15 and 17, have witnessed the emergence of an ultra-ordinary runner, as he calls himself. Joan Roch is the story of a man running after freedom. He has run more than he has driven. The metaphor of his life.