Just one day after his tenth birthday, Linden laced up his shoes and crossed the finish line of the Blue Nose Marathon, completing the iconic race side-by-side with his father, Carlos Meza. “At school I just run around and play all the time,” said Linden. The young runner from Nova Scotia spent over a year-and-a-half training toward the 42.2-kilometre feat, gradually building his distance from youth races to 5kms, 10kms and eventually a half marathon. “He started with the Youth Running Series, and that’s about a kilometre-and-a-half for his age,” said Meza , who is also his coach and a certified strength and conditioning trainer. “He really enjoyed it. And when the Blue Nose came up, we asked if he wanted to run the kids’ 2km or 4km, but he wanted to try the 5km. So we said, ‘If you really want to, we can train you for it.’ And he did.” That first 5km sparked a passion that quickly snowballed. Linden decided to run a full marathon, motivated by a desire to complete the challenge while he was still nine years old. Since his birthday fell on the day before the Blue Nose, he and his father ran a full marathon together on a trail before race day. “I ran the marathon two weeks before and didn’t tell anyone, just ran on my own with my dad on the BLT trail,” said Linden. “He really wanted to get it done as a nine-year-old,” said Meza. “As a trainer, it didn’t make much sense to run a full marathon before a race, but all signs were showing he was healthy and ready – no injuries, steady growth – and he’d just done 32 kilometres the week before on a tough course.” Meza, who has trained Olympians and endurance athletes for more than 15 years, closely monitored every step of the journey. They brought in a chiropractor to ensure Linden’s health was regularly checked, received support from a local sports shop for nutrition, and followed a progressive training plan that emphasized stretching and recovery. “When you get to marathon distance, you have to do more than just run,” he said. “We treated his training the same way I would with any serious athlete.” The decision to raise money for cancer research added even more purpose to Linden’s mission. “My grandfather passed away from cancer a year ago and my other grandfather has cancer so I decided to raise money for cancer research,” said Linden. Despite his age, Linden remained focused throughout the rigorous training. “I was so proud of myself when I crossed the finish line,” he said. Even during the toughest parts of the marathon, his father says he was still smiling. “In the last 15km of the marathon, he was a happy kid, laughing, making jokes. It turned out to be a perfect day.” As for what’s next? That remains uncertain. “I never try to plan big races right after a big one,” Meza said. “Let it settle in. He’s talked about going further and doing bigger things, but we’ll let this one sit for a bit.” Meza also emphasized the importance of youth-led motivation when it comes to endurance sports. “There are some risks involved in youth doing endurance events, but the research shows it’s safe if done right,” he said. “No pain, no pushing through injuries, and it has to be driven by them, not the parents. Wherever it takes them, that’s great. Linden wanted this, and we were just there to support him.” For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
