Smid crosses finish line of first half marathon

EDMONTON -- Former NHL defenseman Ladislav Smid is still up for a good challenge, which prompted him to run a half marathon.

Smid, 37, who played 10 seasons in the NHL with the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames, ran his first half marathon Sunday, finishing the 21.1-kilometer (13.1 mile) course at the Edmonton Marathon in a time of one hour, 26 minutes and 36 seconds.

"I was scrolling through my phone on a Sunday night about a month and a half ago, and the Edmonton Marathon popped up and I thought I would like to try something like that to challenge myself," Smid said. "I train regularly, but I didn't really specifically train for this. I run once in a while, I ride the bike, I keep myself in shape. It was a great atmosphere, people were really friendly, people were cheering us on, so it was an awesome time."

A native for Frydlant, Czech Republic, Smid was selected by the Anaheim Ducks in the first round (No. 9) of the 2004 NHL Draft. He was traded to Edmonton on July 3, 2006, in a deal involving defenseman Chris Pronger.

Smid played parts of eight seasons with the Oilers before he was traded to the Flames on Nov. 8, 2013.

Between Edmonton and Calgary, Smid played 583 games and had 72 points (12 goals, 60 assists). He concluded his playing career with five seasons in the Czech Republic.

Smid is now an assistant coach with the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League.

The Edmonton Marathon is an annual event, which features races in a variety of distances.

"It was the first time I've run that far," Smid said. "The most I ever ran before was 10k, but it was never something I timed. I really like to challenge myself and see how far I can push myself and this was a good test and I'm glad I did it."

Smid said he felt good through the first part of the race but had to battle through the last few miles.

"The route ran by my house, so my kids were waiting there for me with signs, so it was exciting," he said. "The first half really flew by and the second half, when I was starting to get passed by the marathon runners, the really elite runners, I thought maybe I was going too slow.

"That started creeping in my mind and the last two or three kilometers I was starting to cramp up, but I kept seeing people in front of me and my competitive side kicked in and I tried to catch up to as many people I could see in front of me. I picked up my pace and started to catch up to people, but it didn't feel really good, because I was cramping up and at the same time, I was really pushing myself, so that last two or three kilometers were really, really hard."

Smid said he does not consider himself an avid runner, but will look at attempting to complete the full marathon (26.2 miles) in the future.

"I'm going to take some rest, because I'm super sore today, but it's something that's on my bucket list, running a full marathon," Smid said. "I don't know if it's next year or the year after, but it's going to take a little bit more training. I didn't do specific training for a half marathon, you just have to keep in shape, but for a full marathon, I would have to do more training because it's a serious distance. Hopefully, I can accomplish it one day."