Running a Marathon Into A New Career

Posted on Friday, June 14th, 2024

The sweat dripped off the face of Nevill Carney as he crossed the finish line. It was a cooler and overcast Sunday afternoon in late May as he raised his arms in celebration of completing his first marathon. The pure exhilaration of running the 42.2 kilometre race was so satisfying that he forgot about the cramping pain he had experienced 30 kilometres into the Ottawa International Marathon.

He had finished the race in 5 hours, 18 minutes and one second. The time didn’t matter as much as the personal satisfaction of completing the marathon. The months of training through the winter months had been worth it. His body had responded well and the tips he had received from other runners were helpful.

For Carney, running the grueling race was the equivalent of climbing Mount Everest. He had reached a pinnacle in his life, with everything coming together at once. Living in a new community, completing a college program, starting a new job and now holding on to a medal as proof that he had completed his first marathon.

Nevill Carney completes the Ottawa International Marathon in 5 hours, 18 minutes and 1 second.

The journey to running in the marathon had started seven years earlier when Carney completed a half marathon in the Ottawa Army Run, but since then he had put running on the backburner. His focus was on choosing a second career and it brought him to Algonquin College’s Pembroke Waterfront Campus as a mature student.

When he was younger, Carney had completed an Advanced Diploma in the Film and Television Production program at Humber College in Toronto. That led to a job with the Discovery Channel where he travelled the world, helping to produce segments for shows like “Mighty Ships,” but when the winds of change blew through the sails of many media companies, he lost his job. That prompted Carney to move back to his hometown of Ottawa where he found employment in the trades working in home renovations. Eventually, he took a series of contracts with the federal government working in administrative roles with both Health Canada and Procurement Canada.

It was while working within the federal bureaucracy that he met his girlfriend who was from Eganville and in January 2023 Carney made the decision to move to the Ottawa Valley as the couple’s relationship became more serious. The move made finding employment in his new community a top priority, so he quickly inserted himself by becoming a volunteer with a local food bank as he started kicking the tires for job opportunities. At the same time, Carney started thinking about going back to school to better position himself for long term employment success in his new home.

He attended a career fair at Algonquin College’s Community Employment Services office in Eganville. There he met a college student recruiter and learned about the College’s new Business Fundamentals program, an eight month certificate program designed to help people move quickly back into the workforce with a fresh set of skills that were easily transferrable to many businesses. When he found out the program was offered in a multi-modal delivery format, it piqued his interest and he reached out to the Business program coordinator, Kim Drake, to learn more. He scheduled a virtual meeting with Drake and liked what he heard.

“The flexibility of being able to study in a multi-modal environment, that was huge,” says Carney about his decision to enroll in the program. “Kim did a great job explaining how multi-modal worked and left me feeling like she was my friend, not a faculty member.”

Nevill Carney proudly wears the medal he earned after completing the 2024 Ottawa International Marathon.

That personal touch that Carney experienced is one of the trademarks of the Pembroke Campus. During the admissions cycle, program coordinators connect with incoming students to share more information about the program and to give the students the opportunity to ask questions. The process is called First Contact and it helps put students at ease, assisting them with building a relationship with one of their key faculty members before they start school.

As Carney had his questions answered he liked what he was hearing about the multi-modal delivery option. Multi-modal programs permit students to attend classes in person or join virtually. They can choose on a daily basis how they want to access their classes, but all students have the same timetable.

As a mature student, Carney was still weighing the pros and cons of returning to school, so he stayed connected with Drake and asked more questions. They got to know each other and Carney shared some of his personal interests, including an idea that had been percolating about running a marathon. Drake shared that the campus librarian, Patti Kim, had twice ran in the prestigious Boston Marathon and suggested he might want to talk to her about how she prepared for races. Carney acted quickly and was pleasantly surprised when Kim quickly responded to his email.

“Patti gave me some foundational pointers on nutrition, hydration and building a training plan. It was really helpful.” For Carney, the connection he was building with faculty and staff at the Pembroke Campus was increasingly convincing him he needed to follow through with his post-secondary plans. “When Patti responded quickly and was willing to meet with me, even before I started school, I could see myself studying here.”

At 36 years of age, Carney was taking the big step of enrolling again in college. He visited the campus and took a tour, introduced himself to the librarian and exchanged more running stories with her, met face to face with some of the other staff who he had been talking to as he made his decision to enroll in Business Fundamentals and then when September of 2023 arrived, he stepped into a classroom for the first time in many years.

He wanted to get to know his new classmates as quickly as possible so he chose to attend most classes in person during the Fall term, but when winter weather arrived, he increasingly joined classes from home. “Kim did a great job making everyone feel that they were part of the class environment,” regardless of how they were accessing the class. It was an eye opener into how much technology has taken a leading role in education,” says Carney.

Nevill Carney runs his first marathon in May of 2024.

Success came quickly for Carney. As he was nearing the completion of his program, he attended a job fair that was held on campus and had a good conversation with some of the city of Pembroke staff who were recruiting new employees. When Carney shared some of his background, he was encouraged to apply for a job with the city.

He had done well in his courses and had confidence as he interviewed for a temporary position within the city’s tourism department. When he got the summer job he quickly made an impression with city staff. That led to applying for a permanent position within the city’s planning department and just as he was finishing up his first marathon he received good news that he had won that competition too. Within a month of completing college, he had secured full time employment and had ran his first full marathon.

“When I was first humming and hawing about whether to go back to school, Kim Drake grounded me and showed me how the program would lead me to a career. The faculty care and want you to succeed,” says Carney who is looking forward to attending his convocation ceremony, the icing on the cake in a year long journey that has him running into a bright future.

(Posted by Jamie Bramburger, Manager of Community and Student Affairs at Algonquin College Pembroke Campus)

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