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Masters Track & Field 2025 - A Year to Remember for Maj Claude Faucher
- millerheather
- Aug 11
- 3 min read
2025 has proven to be a memorable Track and Field year for Major (Maj.) Claude Faucher of 17 Wing, Winnipeg. After joining Tough Track, one of the few Winnipeg track and field clubs that specializes in middle distances, it didn’t take very long before seeing the benefits of National-level coaching, great training facilities, and running alongside very talented teammates.
Following some of Maj Faucher’s best runs in August 2024 at the World Masters Athletics (WMA) Championships in Sweden, his confidence was running high, and he felt eager to take on the intense training regimen of the 2025 indoor track season. Maj. Faucher started the year strong, setting new personal bests, provincial and national records in the male 55-59 age category, winning the 400-meter and 800-meter races at the Canadian Masters Athletics (CMA) Indoor Championships in Winnipeg, MB. Just two weeks later, he was in Gainesville, FL, United States, competing in the 10th WMA Championships 23-30 March 2025, where close to 4,000 master athletes from 97 countries competed. Running a strong performance on the 800-meter prelims, Maj. Faucher finished 10th with a time of 2:16.98 minutes, just one spot shy of qualifying for the finals. Three days later, he competed in the 200-meter heats, posting a time of 27.10 seconds – a new Manitoba record for the male 55-59 age category. A few days later, Maj. Faucher posted a run of 60.17 seconds during the 400-meter semi-finals, tying his own Manitoba record, though falling short of advancing to the finals. On the last day of the competition, despite very tired legs, Maj. Faucher earned his first-ever silver medal at the WMA Championships in the 4x200-meter men’s relay, followed by another silver medal just two hours later in the mixed 4x200-meter relay – setting a new Canadian record.
It is important to note that teammate Lieutenant-Colonel (Lt.-Col.) John Coffin, from 17 Wing Winnipeg, also competed at the WMA Championships on the 1500-meter, running a personal best performance of 4:20.34 minutes, finishing 10th in the semi-finals, good enough to advance to the finals. The very next day, Lt.-Col. Coffin delivered a very strong 4:21.49 minute time in the finals against some of the best 1500-meter runners in the world. After 8 days of intense competition, Canada finished third in the medal count with 79 medals: 26 gold, 26 silver, and 27 bronze, trailing only the United Kingdom and the United States. The team of 200 Canadian athletes also set 40 new Canadian records, eight meet records, and six world records.
With the indoor season behind him, Maj. Faucher quickly shifts his focus to the outdoor track, where he competed all summer in distances ranging from 200 meters to 1500 meters against much younger local athletes. After many very hard training sessions and successful races in the Manitoban heat, wind, humidity, or smoky air, it was finally time to test his abilities against some stiff competition at the CMA Outdoor Championships in Laval, QC, from August 1-3, 2025. During the first event Maj. Faucher claimed the silver by running a seasonal best performance on the 400-meter of 59.93 seconds. The following day in smoky, hot, and humid conditions, Maj. Faucher managed to place second Canadian with another seasonal best run in the 800-meter race (2:17.77 minutes) and third in the 200-meter just 45 minutes later with a personal best performance 27.09 seconds and a new age-class Manitoba record – a great ending to a successful and exciting year of track and field.
As a military member, Maj. Faucher is very fortunate and thankful to have received great support from my chain of command and financial assistance through the Support to Sports Participation Grant Program to enable him to participate in all these events. The program focuses on supporting CAF members – Regular or Reserve Force – as athletes, coaches, and officials with local sports opportunities up to the international level. All the details of this program can be found online at https://cfmws.ca/sport-fitness-rec/sports/caf-sports-grant-program
Looking ahead, Maj. Faucher is eager to start training for the 2026 World Masters Athletics Outdoor Championships to be held in Daegu, South Korea, 22 August 2026.
