NHL great Zdeno Chara reveals he started MARATHON RUNNING after ending his 24-year hockey career… and he has an Iron Man in his sights!
- Zdeno Chara made a name for himself in the NHL as a legendary defenseman
- But he is now making an impact in another sport since retiring from hockey
- DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news
Zdeno Chara retired from hockey last year, but the NHL great isn’t just lying around lying around after a legendary 21-year career.
In fact, the former defenseman has taken up a completely different sport, as Chara has been running marathons since hanging up his skates.
The Slovak completed the Boston Marathon in November and will reportedly run the New York City Marathon in November.
“I haven’t taken any breaks,” he told the newspaper New York Post.
‘I have more or less kept up the physical training. ‘I expanded my running activities, covered more kilometers and cycled longer distances.
Former Boston Bruins player Zdeno Chara and Becca Pizzi complete the Boston Marathon
Chara celebrates with the Stanley Cup after beating the Vancouver Canucks in 2011
“And at some point I knew I wanted to talk to someone more experienced and someone who could maybe help me get into more specific programs to help me achieve some of the goals I had set for myself.”
Chara said he’s even focusing on triathlons and Ironmans.
He also told The Post that he wants to do the Tokyo, London, Berlin and Chicago marathons.
He completed the Boston Marathon in 3:38.23 for a hugely impressive 8:20 mile pace, but insisted he was just running for fun and wasn’t setting a target time.
Chara finished his career with the Islanders and played a final season with the team in 2022
“Sometimes you get into a different mindset and you learn a lot about yourself through these challenges, through these good runs, bad runs,” he said.
“It’s just, I don’t know how to really explain it, but it’s something that teaches you something about yourself. And it’s a very humbling experience.”
Chara led the Bruins to a Stanley Cup championship in 2011, finishing his career with 237 goals and 523 assists.