• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter
Huntsville Doppler

Huntsville Doppler

Read Local

  • Home
    • All Stories
    • Community Guidelines
  • COVID-19
  • News
  • Community
  • Commentary
    • Letters
  • Business
    • Real Estate
    • Professionally Speaking
  • Sports
  • Obituaries
  • Lifestyle
    • Contests and Deals
    • Entertainment
    • Extraordinary People
    • Feature
    • This is Huntsville | Videos
    • Wayback Wednesday
    • Our Town with Grant Nickalls | Archive
  • Events
    • Event Listings
    • Add Your Event
  • It’s All Good
  • Speak Up, Huntsville!
  • Subscribe
  • Support
You are here: Home / Sports / Athlete of the week: Kaitlyn Baker
Kaitlyn Baker in the finishers chute at the Ironman 70.3 Mont-Tremblant in 2018 (supplied)
Kaitlyn Baker in the finishers chute at the Ironman 70.3 Mont-Tremblant in 2018 (supplied)

Athlete of the week: Kaitlyn Baker

By Cheyenne Wood On May 3, 2020 Sports

Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin
Email this to someone
email
Print this page
Print

 

What do you do if you’ve been training for a marathon—your first—and it gets cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic?

If you’re Kaitlyn Baker, you turn it into an opportunity to raise funds for the Huntsville Hospital Foundation.

 

Baker has been training since January for the Ottawa Marathon, which was set to take place on May 24. Instead of deferring the race to later date, the event has gone virtual.

“Because they changed the platform to virtual and set up fundraising pages… I reached out to the Huntsville Hospital Foundation about running locally for them,” said Baker.

“I just want to give back to the community that’s given me so much. I grew up here and was both born at Huntsville Hospital and had my son at Huntsville Hospital,” she added. “I’m blessed to have many outstanding health care professionals in my life and know we are fortunate to have a fantastic hospital in our town that won’t exist without support.”

This may be Baker’s first marathon, but she is no stranger to endurance sports. She has been seriously training for triathlons for the last five years. She enjoys competition and has always been competitive in some way or another through horseback riding or Nordic skiing.

“I like to challenge myself and push myself to see what I’m capable of. There’s always room to improve in sport. I started to fall in love with the endurance portion of the sport and particularly the running during my time training. I am a half decent swimmer, a passable biker, but I can hold my own on the run and it has landed me on several podiums over the years,” she said.

In 2017, Baker competed in her first half-marathon and in the summer of 2018 she completed her first half Ironman, the Ironman 70.3 Mont-Tremblant.

But then she was sidelined by injury. “I spent the better part of the fall of 2018 and spring 2019 nursing a major injury and thanks to some amazing local physiotherapists, I ran a major personal best at my second half-marathon in Toronto. This basically was the bug that made me want to try the full distance,” said Baker.

Baker is a member of MARS (Muskoka Algonquin Runners) and TriMuskoka, which inspires her to keep striving for her goals as she trains alongside amazing local athletes who, as she says, “Keeps crushing it out there!”

“We live in a town just full of talented people and our athletes are no exception,” she added. “So, I am drawing from their experience and using them as my inspiration to run my own self supported marathon.”

Baker will run on either May 23 or May 24,  choosing the date with the best running weather. Her route will include sections of  Muskoka Road 3, Old North Road, Main Street, Hwy 60, and Canal Road to complete the full 42.2-kilometre marathon distance.

“I will drop bottles at friends’ driveways along the way as my ‘aid stations’ but aside from that, it will be completely self-supported,” said Baker.

Keep your eye out for her on the weekend of May 23-24 and cheer her on.

To make a donation, go huntsvillehospitalfoundation.ca/ways-to-give and choose “Kaitlyn’s Run” in the designation field.

 

Don’t miss out on Doppler!

Sign up here to receive our email digest with links to our most recent stories.
Local news in your inbox three times per week!

Reader Interactions

3 Comments

  1. Don McCormcik says

    May 4, 2020 at 8:55 am

    Way to go Kaitlyn. When the world gives you lemons make lemonade.

  2. Rose Evans says

    May 12, 2020 at 8:38 am

    Way to go Kaitlyn we will be cheering you on !!!

  3. Jerilyn Roycroft says

    May 12, 2020 at 12:55 pm

    What a great win-win plan, Kaitlyn. You get to do your run for which you have been training so hard, and you do something wonderful for the hospital. Wishing you the best on your run.

Join the discussion (please include your first and last name and follow our community guidelines): Cancel reply

All comments are moderated. Please ensure you include both your first and last name and abide by our community guidelines.

Primary Sidebar

Latest Sports Stories

Trevor Kiers (Biathlon Canada)

Local biathlete Trevor Kiers competes in his first World Cup race

January 25, 2021 3 Comments

Minister Lisa MacLeod talks about Ontario 55+ Winter Games Legacy funding via Zoom

Eight community organizations receive legacy funding from 2019 Ontario 55+ Winter Games

January 21, 2021 2 Comments

Third time’s a charm for Ben Carlin

December 27, 2020 11 Comments

HVHSA awaits skiers early the morning of Dec. 22, 2020. The ski hill will be forced to close for 28 days as of Dec. 26. (Dawn Huddlestone)

HVHSA GM calls on province to reverse ski hill closure decision

December 22, 2020 24 Comments

Jeff Mann at his dog Parka at Limberlost (wwhsta.org)

New ski touring association hopes to draw people to backcountry pursuits 

December 15, 2020 Leave a Comment

HVHSA began making snow in November (supplied)

Hidden Valley Highlands prepared for the ski season with pandemic protocols in place

December 1, 2020 Leave a Comment

Huntsville's Ryan Bionda is taking her lacrosse career to the next level (supplied)

Huntsville’s Ryan Bionda signs on to play NCAA Division 1 Lacrosse in South Carolina

November 20, 2020 1 Comment

The Arrowhead Racing Crew for youth 11-plus got a jump on the coming season with some dryland training (Submitted by Holly Strickland)

Kids, adults need to spend more time outside this winter. One option: cross-country skiing. ~ Mary Spring

November 12, 2020 Leave a Comment

OFSAA cancels all winter high school championships and festivals

November 10, 2020 Leave a Comment

A fire escape is placed on the exterior of the Huntsville Curling Club; it is one of several capital projects the club is investing in. (supplied)

Huntsville Curling Club continues to invest in its facility ‘to ensure the safety of its members’

November 4, 2020 2 Comments

  • Recent Stories
  • Popular
  • January 3, 2021 18 Rod Phillips in a video posted to his Twitter account on Christmas Eve, while he vacationed in St. Barts (Rod Phillips / Twitter)

    Listen Up! Partisanship should not be blind | Commentary

  • January 8, 2021 15

    Indigo Rain Flower Farm to provide local, ‘grown not flown’ cut flowers

  • January 13, 2021 12

    Our political discourse is drenched in rage; it doesn’t have to be: MP Scott Aitchison

  • January 10, 2021 11

    Listen Up! Some hard truths | Commentary

  • January 24, 2021 11 Former Governor General Julie Payette in Ottawa on Sept. 23, 2020 (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

    Listen Up! A week packed with issues | Commentary

  • January 27, 2021 0

    You go, Joe! | Commentary

  • January 27, 2021 0

    It’s Wayback Wednesday sponsored by Pharmasave: First cars

  • January 26, 2021 0

    Town plans to spend about $6.43 million on capital works this year

  • January 26, 2021 0

    COVID-19 vaccine myths and facts | Commentary

  • January 26, 2021 0

    COVID-19 in Huntsville: the latest updates

  • A Sponsored Profile (287)
  • Around Muskoka (1)
  • Art Fx (4)
  • Breaking (25)
  • Business (212)

Footer

About Doppler

Established in 2015 by a bunch of local news hounds, Doppler strives to be the go-to source for people wanting to know more about what is going on in Huntsville and the surrounding community.

We strive to provide local news that is relevant and timely. We also look to tell local stories that inspire, inform and engage.

Notice the persistent use of the word local? Our mantra is local. From features on local people doing extraordinary things, to local business spotlights, news and sports coverage, all supplemented by provocative opinion pieces on topics near and far, we are working hard for you.

Feel free to drop us a line at huntsville@doppleronline.ca and tell us how we are doing, what you would like to see more of, or to just say ‘Hi’.

Thank you for reading Doppler.

Huntsville Doppler – READ LOCAL

Recent Comments

  • Bonnie Trentadue on Huntsville council approves a 0.35 per cent tax increase for 2021
  • Jerilyn Roycroft on Local biathlete Trevor Kiers competes in his first World Cup race
  • Pete Crozier on Huntsville council approves a 0.35 per cent tax increase for 2021
  • Anna-Lise Kear on Listen Up! A week packed with issues | Commentary
  • Don McCormick on Local biathlete Trevor Kiers competes in his first World Cup race
  • Phil Beacock on Fire chief stepping down after 35 years of service
  • Hugh Holland on Listen Up! A week packed with issues | Commentary
  • Phil Beacock on Listen Up! A week packed with issues | Commentary

Copyright © 2021 ·Doppler · Log in
  • About
  • Support Local News
  • Community Guidelines
  • Advertising
  • Contact
  • Subscribe