MALINDI ELMORE

All About Paris

Malindi Elmore is the only Canadian woman running the marathon at the 2024 Olympic Games. Her whole life has been building towards this moment. By Michael Doyle

With one month to go before the biggest race of her career, Malindi Elmore’s typical day is highly relatable for any middle-aged working parent.

Minus the double threshold workouts, perhaps.

She’s awake before dawn, and begins with an 18K run at 6:00 a.m., either alone or with one of the university track runners she coaches at UBC Okanagan. She has exactly 90 minutes to get it done before returning home so that her husband and coach, retired Olympic track runner Graham Hood, can hand off their sons, aged 6 and 10, and head to his day job with the city of Kelowna, where the two have lived for many years.

Then, Elmore pivots into both parenting and coaching duties for the next few hours.

She and her sons are on the road by 8 a.m., driving to the track at the University, so she can oversee a summer training camp for her varsity runners.

After checking in with athletes and getting her sons situated, Elmore then hits the gym for an hour-long weight room session.

“It’s nearly 40 C today,” she says en route back to the track. “I picked up some freezies for the kids so they don’t completely fall apart.”

Elmore usually fits in a second 45-minute run from the parking lot of her sons’ afternoon kung fu class, but due to the punishing heat, she’s forced to stay indoors, and negotiate treadmill time with the boys while they tend to their assigned daily chores.

“After that, I take them to swimming lessons,” Elmore says, “and then I have physio at 6:30. Then it’s home for dinner, and bed.”

This is an average day for Elmore, as she eclipses 180 kilometres a week in her preparation to race the Olympic Marathon in Paris on Aug. 11.

At 44, Elmore is arguably at her apex as a marathoner. She’s Canada’s only entrant in the women’s field for the crown jewel event at Games. She qualified by exhibiting a remarkable level of patience, self-confidence and consistency at an age when most professional athletes have since long retired.

And she doesn’t plan on hanging up her super shoes any time soon.

“Tokyo didn’t feel like it was the Olympics. But when you’re on a desert island, you make the best of it.”

Elmore’s story is now a familiar one: she was a standout high schooler in B.C., and then competed for Stanford, setting school records in the 800m and 1,500m.

In 2004, at 24, Elmore represented Canada in the 1,500m in the Summer Olympics in Athens, in what she thought would be one of a few trips to the Games. It nearly ended up being her last. She didn’t qualify for Beijing or London, and in 2012 Elmore quietly retired from the track, transitioning to parenthood and a life after elite sports.

Or so she thought.

Throughout her retirement, Elmore dabbled in triathlon, developing an impressive resume of finishes, and discovered her mental and physical knack for grinding out longer distance events.

After her second son was born in 2018, Elmore ran her first marathon, and surprised those paying attention to the Canadian elite scene, finishing Houston that January in 2:32:15, a performance she doesn’t consider to be one of her “serious” attempts at the distance, as she knew it would take several training cycles just to figure out how to properly train. But the performance immediately inserted her into the conversation as a contender for the 2020 Canadian Olympic marathon team.

Elmore’s meteoric ascent as a marathoner continued. In January 2020, she returned to Houston and ran 2:24:50, which lowered the Canadian national record by more than two minutes. It was a jarring statement run of a calibre not previously seen in Canadian history.

Suddenly, this 39-year-old from Kelowna, who was long forgotten by track fans, was easily the best marathoner Canada had ever produced.

Then, COVID happened.

Elmore turned 40 two days after the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic. It was unclear if the Tokyo Olympics would even happen, and it felt as though she was running out of time just as her marathoning career was taking off.

After more than a year of waiting, and staying fit just in case the Games were a go, Elmore was selected to run in 2021, in what would become one of the most stressful and most bizarre sports events in history.

The Canadian marathon team — Elmore, Natasha Wodak, Dayna Pidoresky, Cameron Levins, Trevor Hofbauer and Ben Priesner — were isolated in Sapporo, 800 kilometres north of all the action in Tokyo, in a move the organizing committee hoped would spare the event of extreme heat. With the country sending its first ever complete team to the Games, what should have been a celebration of the high point in Canadian distance running felt instead like a chaotic rush to get the races over with.

“Tokyo didn’t feel like it was an Olympics,” Elmore says. “We spent two weeks mostly confined to a hotel room. When we were allowed outside, we ran this 900m loop over and over. It was a very intense experience. But when you’re on a deserted island, you make the most of it.”

It was already 25 C and extremely humid when the race started at 6 a.m. But Elmore saw an opportunity. It was going to be a race of attrition, and she believes deeply in committing to a plan and approaching the first 30K of a marathon conservatively. “I just reminded myself to be super patient once the gun went,” she says, waiting for the race to come back to her.

“We were running so slowly at the beginning of the race that I even found myself at the front of the pack, leading,” Elmore says with a laugh. “So that was neat, leading the Olympic marathon for a minute.”

At 18K, the massive pack of lead runners, including Elmore, entered an aid station, and a breakaway group of the fastest athletes took off. “That was a really critical moment for me,” Elmore says. “I had to decide whether not to go with them or not.” Elmore checked her ego and stuck to her philosophical approach to the marathon. “I decided that it was too fast too soon,” she says.

At that point, Elmore was in eighteenth place.

The heat and humidity then began to take its toll in the second half, and her patience was rewarded. “I began picking people off, seeing runners stepping off the course in front of me,” she says. “It was so hard, so hot. I remember running along thinking, ‘This is brutal,’ but then seeing someone ahead of me, not getting away, and telling myself, literally, ‘One foot in front of the other; as long as you’re moving, you’re doing well.’ And then I’d pass that person—and look for the next one up ahead.”

Elmore ended up finishing in ninth place, the best performance by a Canadian since the inaugural women’s marathon in 1984.

The Strange Games

Staying power

“I remember running thinking, ‘This is brutal,’ but then seeing someone ahead of me, not getting away, telling myself, ‘One foot in front of the other.’ Then I’d pass that person, and look for the next one up ahead.”

Elmore and Natasha Wodak, who have grown from being competitors to close friends, were able to go to Tokyo for a brief taste of the Olympic village experience before having to leave Japan due to strict COVID protocols at the Games. There, over a glass of wine, they decided to go all in for the next three years, and make it back for another Olympic marathon.

“I didn’t feel done. And I didn’t see why Natasha would feel done either,” Elmore says, noting that Paris was then just three years away.

Elmore is unabashedly a fan of the Olympic ideals. “It’s so much more than just a race, and that’s what’s so special about it,” she says. “There’s so much Canadian pride with being part of an Olympic team; it feels like the world shuts down and it becomes about the Olympics, the athletes, and the focus is entirely on the Games. You can’t help but to pick up on that energy. You want to do your best for your country.”

In the fall of 2022, Elmore ran the Toronto Waterfront Marathon, thinking she would first represent Canada at the World Championships in 2023, and then focus on qualifying for the Olympics in Paris.

She ran 2:25:14, but it was still more than a month outside of the opening window for Paris qualification. “I thought the Olympic standard would be pretty achievable,” she says. It would prove more complicated.

She next tried to “bang out” an Olympic qualifying time at a winter race in Seville, early in the qualification period in February, 2023. “That race was a total disaster,” she says, mostly of her own doing.

“Let’s Go to Paris”

For days after Elmore arrived in Seville, in southern Spain, she couldn’t shake the jet lag from crossing both Canada and the Atlantic Ocean, and wasn’t sleeping, even developing anxiety when she knew she should be. But she says she attributes the main reason for her failure in Seville to deviating from how she had executed the distance so successfully in the past: by being patient and conservative with her pacing in the first half of the marathon, and attacking the race only after the 30K mark, gaining energy by picking off other runners. “I went out really hard in the first 18K of the race,” she says, “but I never felt settled.”

The race never got any easier for her, and she watched as her pace began to slip, beginning at 18 kilometres. By 26K, she says she began to think about her future in the marathon. “You only have a couple of opportunities to run a marathon each year,” she says.

Instead of destroying herself and having to fully recover and do another build, she decided to save it for another day. “So I decided to stop right there and find another race,” she says.

Elmore, for the first time in her career, stepped off the course.

This also altered her plan to represent Canada at the 2023 World Champions in Budapest, as she foresaw that it might inhibit her chance to then qualify for Paris in 2024. “Championship races are about place and not time,” she says bluntly. “And you don’t want to be worrying about time in a championship race.”

Deviating from the Plan

Elmore and her husband (and coach) realized she had to make a difficult decision. “We decided I had to be strategic in approaching the next few months,” she says. “It became all about Paris.”

They analyzed the historical meteorological trends in Budapest in August. “It was pretty clear that it was going to be quite warm. And I just wasn’t going to take that level of risk on a championship-style race.” They also started calculating how athletes were realistically going to qualify for the Games. There were supposedly two pathways: either hitting the qualification standard in a sanctioned marathon within the qualification window, or by performing well enough in top level marathons that World Athletics, the governing body, would rank her within the top eighty slots, “unlocking” a spot on the Paris start line.

“We started doing the math on making it through world rankings, and it became clear no one was going to be selected this way by the end of the qualification period,” she says. “So I knew I had to run the time, and that became the only goal. We were having to convince people that it was going to come down to time—not ranking—to get to Paris.”

She pivoted her focus to September’s Berlin Marathon. “It’s consistently a reliable and fast course,” she says. The previous year in Berlin, her friend and Tokyo teammate Natasha Wodak had run the race of her life, setting a national marathon record (which had been previously set by Elmore), by running 2:23:12.

Elmore admits her decision to skip Budapest was awkward. She’d already been publicly named to the team, and had to call Athletics Canada and decline the spot.

“Athletics Canada has evolved,” she says. “They’ve become a lot more athlete-friendly in recent years.” Elmore laid out her reasoning. “It made sense why I would skip the World Championships, which is an important race, for something that is just more important,” she says, pointing out that the Olympics, which drive much of Athletics Canada’s government funding, were also a higher priority than Budapest for the organization. Elmore’s dogged meteorological research and difficult decision panned out. The World Championship marathon in Budapest was among the hottest ever, with conditions exceeding 30 C.

Just six women ran under the Olympic standard that day.

“All About Paris”

“The marathon is always a race of attrition, but this will be much more so in Paris.”

In Berlin, Elmore was focused on one goal: running under 2:26:50 and making her third Olympic team. After arriving, she quickly identified that the top German woman in the field, Domenika Mayer, would be going for the Olympic standard, and would have pacers provided by the race. (Elmore was not offered a pacer by the race organizers).

At the start, Elmore located Mayer and settled in with her and a group of sub-elite men who glommed on to run in the mid 2:20s. The race organizers also provided a pace car in front, leading them through the course with a big digital board on the back facing the group. Every half-kilometre it flashed their current pace and predicted finishing time. She could see early on that they were tracking between 2:22:45 and 2:24, well below the Olympic standard.

Elmore says that the effort almost felt “too easy” in the first half, but she remained committed to her credo that she wait until 30K before taking unnecessary risks. “We got to that split and I started to feel really good,” she says. “I knew I was going to have the Olympic standard, no problem. I had that in the bag. So I started to think, ‘What else can I do here?’”

That’s when it entered her mind: ‘You know what, I can go for the Canadian record right now.’

Elmore surged ahead, leaving her spot tucked into the dwindling group huddled around Mayer, overtook the pace car, and ran by herself for the final 12 kilometres of the race. She finished in 2:23:30, a personal best by 1:20, and just eighteen seconds off Wodak’s national record. But most importantly, Elmore achieved what she’d come to Berlin to do—secure the Olympic standard.

And again Elmore’s careful research paid off. No marathoners were granted entry purely through world athletics rankings for the Games.

Mission: Berlin

On a slate gray, rainy day in February, standing exactly where she will be finishing the Olympic marathon, Elmore tried to block out the few tourists milling about. Instead, she imagined the vast gantry setup, with the grandstand on either side framing the vast Tuileries Garden, filled with thousands of people, and the time clock looming over the finish line.

After Elmore was confirmed as the only Canadian woman to qualify for the Paris Olympic marathon, she and her husband and coach Graham Hood weren’t going to leave any detail unexplored. So, they took a vacation of sorts, and travelled to Paris so that Elmore could explore the course in detail, which was notably tough, and bank a series of memories for visualizing the race throughout the next few months of training. They began by driving the course on their first day in Paris. Then, Elmore ran the key middle 18K section, twice. “It’s going to be a challenging course,” she says. “There are some really big hills. More than a typical marathon—the marathon is always a race of attrition, but this will be much more so the case in Paris.”

She then walked both the start and finish area twice, so she could store the visual memory of the place in her mind, and revisit it throughout her training.

Elmore anticipates the Paris race will evolve much like the Boston Marathon does, which she ran in 2022. Like Boston, there are many hills, but both courses also feature a relatively flat final 10K. “I know I’ll see the Eiffel Tower with about 5K to go, so that’s when I’ll really try to kick,” she says. “That’s a good landmark for it, right?”

She envisions that few runners will get through the hilly middle section unscathed, and that only those who exhibit patience will be able to cruise to a successful finish.

Elmore has added quite a few hilly routes into her training, and put in extra sessions in the gym to get stronger in order to be able to better handle the impact she’ll experience in Paris. “But ultimately, I will try to be smart and patient, and execute a good plan—controlling fuelling, hydration and pacing, just like any marathon,” she says, seeking to replicate her strategy from Sapporo three years ago.

Elmore says she’s always trying to evolve her approach to the marathon, tinkering with her training plan and incorporating proven methods of getting faster and stronger over the 42.2K distance. After Tokyo, she added double threshold workouts, which requires the athlete to execute on two relatively challenging tempo or interval workouts in the same day. “I couldn’t handle double thresholds very well a couple years ago,” she admits, pointing out that the Tokyo Olympics was just her third marathon. In the past three years, Elmore has significantly increased her volume, while learning to be more methodical with her easy paces and nailing—but not overdoing—workouts.

A case in point is her four peak weeks leading up to Paris: 160, 165, 172, 182 kilometres. “Before, if I did a bigger week at around 160 kilometres, I’d have to go back down and take it easier the following week. But now I can sustain many higher mileage weeks without any problems,” she says.

Elmore also now takes a longer view at her situation, saying that she has no regrets about how she approached her previous career on the track, but that she’d advise her former, younger self to resist applying so much needless pressure on herself, and expecting too much too soon.

“Even though I still do place a lot of pressure on myself and have pretty high expectations, I now know life goes on,” she says. “My kids will be there, oblivious to whether or not I did well in Paris. I also have the capacity to work harder now, because I now know how important this all is. It’s not that I didn’t work hard when I was a younger track athlete, but I just didn’t understand how fleeting this can be.”

Elmore admits she’s surprised she’s the only runner who ended up making the women’s Olympic marathon for Canada. (Natasha Wodak, the current national record holder, opted to run the 2023 World Championships, and subsequently did not secure a qualification time within the Olympic window).

“I’m hoping that there will be a next wave of young women who are right now running some fast races on the track who might move up to the marathon soon,” Elmore says. “Because I don’t know if I’m going to stick around forever.”

Elmore says she would love to help spur on the next wave of young women running the marathon, hopefully inspiring many to try the distance in their 20s, instead of waiting until they reach their 30s to move up from shorter track events.

“The marathon can be intimidating for a young athlete, but the truth is that it can actually be easier on the body than many assume, because you’re taking away most of the intensity of the track and replacing it with slower, more gradual overall volume of running,” she points out. “You also have to look at it as a four-year plan on how to improve.”

Elmore currently coaches young women that she’s confident will try the marathon. “It has to be something that you love to do, that you enjoy the process and are intrinsically motivated to get the most out of yourself,” she says. “It’s great if you can pay some bills along the way, but you can’t rely on that. It’s too precarious, anyway.”

Elmore says she was fortunate to develop a professional relationship with Saucony going into the Tokyo Games, and it’s been a mutually beneficial relationship for the past four years. Elmore has been deeply involved in developing and testing Saucony’s latest super shoe, the Endorphin Elite 2, training in various prototypes and making trips to the company’s performance lab in Boston. Meanwhile, even though Elmore is the only Saucony athlete running the marathon in Paris, the brand still put in a big push to make sure she had a finished product in time for the Games.

Elmore notes that the current financial landscape for would-be marathoners in Canada is part of the reason why we aren’t seeing more young runners sticking with the sport at a high level. Saucony is one of the few brands still paying Canadian distance athletes who live and train in the country. Her contract with Saucony, paired with her coaching duties at the university, allow her to actually approach marathoning as a professional athlete, which is increasingly rare.

“You have to have a backup plan in this sport,” she says bluntly. “But you can support yourself, if you can run fast enough. So, for now, I can justify not having a full-time job outside of running. I admit I’m probably an anomaly, to be 44 and be able to say that after twenty years in the sport. But I wouldn’t suggest that path to anyone.”

Elmore knows she’s firmly in the final act of her apex as an elite marathon runner, but that she still plans on running at this level for as long as she can.

“I’ve got a few marathons I still want to do, and I don’t feel done,” she says. “I wouldn’t bet on myself to be at the 2028 Olympics, but two more years would be great. However, if I wake up one day feeling like I don’t want to do this anymore, or if my body chooses for me, then I think I’d realize that I got a lot out of this sport already and I’d be at peace with moving on. But at this point, it’s a lifestyle and I love running, so I’m going to keep running and if I can race at this level and get results that I’m happy about, I’ll just keep going.”

The Road to Paris Is Hilly

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Midnight Runners are Good for Humanity

RADICAL

POSITIVITY

The other night in Toronto more than three hundred runners of all shapes and sizes got together to run and have fun, to socialize and dance as Midnight Runners Toronto. That they were exercising for free on a beautiful Tuesday evening made the entire enterprise a good look not only for the future of our sport, but for the future of our species. Meet some of the leaders of the grooviest run club in the world. Brian Li, 32, @brianspeltbri

“We value community and having fun as much as the run itself. Enjoying yourself while you’re getting fit is the key to getting more people in running shoes and embracing community in a city often described as a lonely one. Running is one foot in front of the other—the first step towards something great.” Ben Davies, 27, @britishbendavies

“We value community and having fun as much as the run itself. Enjoying yourself while you’re getting fit is the key to getting more people in running shoes and embracing community in a city often described as a lonely one. Running is one foot in front of the other—the first step towards something great.” Jenny Li, @iamnotjenn

“We started small as a few friends going for a run and now it’s 400 people coming out every week, 3,000 active members. I love that we keep growing every week. The energy of our run club attracts people. We ignite the fire, but the community is what keeps the flame going. If you’re looking to hit a PR, we’re not the club for you. We’re about having fun, meeting new people, and community. Never judgmental, we welcome everyone. It’s making running fun again.” Jewels MacPherson Zorro, 30, @jewelsmacphersonzorro

“Every time I come here everyone has a big smile on their face. You feel welcome wherever you are, like you’re part of something. Basically: we bring the high energy, the fun, the party. It’s a ton of fun.” Shaelyn Laurie, 27, @shaelynlaurie

“We’re like-minded people who enjoy running, not in a competitive way, but to meet new people and stay fit. I just love that energy. We want everyone to enjoy themselves, have a good time, meet people—stay fit. Everyone’s here because they like the energy, not to become the absolute fastest runner. It’s for anyone looking for a healthy, positive community, have fun and make friends!” Kalil Magtoto, 26, @kalilsm

No Finish Line

Welcome to No Finish Line, a new podcast from iRun, produced by All-Season, a Toronto-based outdoor content and apparel brand

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No Finish Line is about life’s never ending race, our inherent desire to find new ground, personally, professionally, and on each run. In every episode, iRun editor Ben Kaplan talks to an athlete, author or other world-class super-achiever, not about their successes, but about their setbacks. We all arrive at our starting lines with high expectations. When we don’t meet them—how we respond—is where the magic begins. No Finish Line is about our inherent will to get back in the race.

WATCH PARTY ALERT!

Midnight run and Elmore watch party!

Join us for a night or running and watching our Canadian hopeful Elmore race against women half her age.

The Women's Marathon at the Summer Olympics is August 11 in Paris and features iRun summer cover star Malindi Elmore competing for Canada against the world's best. Join us at Totum Life Science at 445 King St. West at 11:30pm to stash your stuff then come along for a Midnight Run as we prepare to eat, drink and make merry while we watch Elmore race against women half her age. There's food from Mandy’s Gourmet Salads, Athletic Brewing drinks, chef Rafael Echata treats, prizes, raffles, and Midnight Runners fun, plus your entire $21 door charge goes to Kidsport, Malindi Elmore's charity of choice. Her race begins at 2am Toronto time. Let's cheer so loud she hears us in France.

NEW EVENT ALERT!

A Treadmill Workout with Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow

iRun: Mayor Chow, we sincerely appreciate your time this morning. What’s running mean to you?

Mayor Chow: When my husband was really sick, every morning the first thing I’d do was run for an hour to clear my head. I had a girlfriend and she’d come over and say, ‘Olivia, let’s do this,’ and during that whole period that’s just what we did.

iRun: It’s nice to give readers a chance to remember your husband, Jack Layton. How do you think running helped you through that time?

Mayor Chow: When you’re happy, you run. I’m happy now—I’m running. When you’re bored, you can run. But when you’re down and sad, when you’re confused, running is great although I don’t think it’s something to turn to in a time of need. It works best if you keep it consistent.

iRun: You mentioned running with a girlfriend. How else did you help make the habit form?

Mayor Chow: You have to set up a routine, like me here running with you this morning. Every morning, 6:30 a.m., it’s my routine.

Q

Toronto’s first woman of colour to be Mayor is a 67-year-old runner who invited iRun to City Hall for a treadmill workout beneath the historic building a day before celebrating her first year in office. Photographs by Tyler Anderson

I love doing local runs. 10Ks, 5Ks, 3Ks. I enjoy supporting local running events.

iRun: Why?

Mayor Chow: Running gets me going and the natural endorphins make me feel good. You start the morning moving and the repetitive motion gets me in a meditative mode, which is a good place to be.

iRun: Can you explain that?

Mayor Chow: Your brain is almost emptying out and it allows you to be present in the moment, that second, not the past or the future, but right here. I think that’s an important perspective to keep throughout our lives—especially in challenging times.

iRun: It should be repeated that this interview is being conducted live on a treadmill. How are you feeling thus far into our run?

Mayor Chow: I feel great. I’m going very slow so I can talk to you.

iRun: What speed do you generally run at?

Mayor Chow: 5.5, but I adjust over the course of the run. I could go faster, but I want to make sure you get what you need.

iRun: It’s cool that you’re celebrating your milestone of one year in office at 6:30 in the morning, on a run.

Mayor Chow: It just feels great. It wakes me up. Clears my head, and I come up with the wildest things. But I’m not running today to mark any occasion. Running is a habit for me by now.

iRun: When did you start your running journey?

Mayor Chow: When I was thirteen. I was in grade nine and I got on the track & field team. I was a hurdler and I was horrible at it, but it was a start.

iRun: We lose so many young women in sport as they graduate from school into adulthood.

Mayor Chow: I understand that. Mostly it’s stayed with me, but it’s also come in and out of different periods of my life.

iRun: I think it’s good when a city can see their Mayor supporting the community at local races.

Mayor Chow: I love doing local runs. 10Ks, 5Ks, 3Ks. I enjoy supporting local running events.

iRun: Can you race at these events? Do you set out with a time goal?

Mayor Chow: No, no—nothing like that. I’m right at the end.

iRun: Busy as you are, why do you make exercise such a focus?

Mayor Chow: We need it.

iRun: Does your whole office run?

Mayor Chow: We all try to do something. We have a morning crew, an afternoon crew, and some workout after the office, but most of us do something to stay physically fit. I also think walking is great.

iRun: It must be hard wearing two hats at races—trying to run your race, but also getting constantly recognized by voters.

Mayor Chow: I definitely run slowly because people want to talk.

iRun: But can’t you tell them—not now, I’m running!!

Mayor Chow: Oh, no. I’m on the clock when I do charity runs.

iRun: At 67, compared to American politicians, you’re a spring chicken, but still, approaching 70, time does catch us all. Do you feel any compulsion to slow down?

Mayor Chow: I feel very healthy. I might be slow, but I’m not slowing down.

iRun: What else do you do to stay fit?

Mayor Chow: I love swimming the most. Given a choice, I swim. But I’m also a year-round cyclist and love to run, but it’s my weakest discipline of the three. I have a bike in my office.

iRun: Like a stationary bike?

Mayor Chow: Yes, right by my desk. Sometimes when I’m reading a document or on the phone, I’ll be doing it on my stationary bike. As human beings I think it's in our DNA to be active.

iRun: I love that. That’s what the whole Born to Run book’s about.

Mayor Chow: Yes, of course. We used to have to hunt our meals down and we don’t do that anymore, but it’s still programmed in our bodies. Running is a natural part of who we are.

iRun: I know you like to run when you travel.

Mayor Chow: I always pack my running shoes, but sometimes that gets me in trouble.

iRun: How so?

Mayor Chow: In Tokyo, I was with a global delegation of ministers of public safety from around the world and, this was before GPS, I got lost and no one could speak English. That was a long run.

iRun: Last words for iRun Nation?

Mayor Chow: I’d love to promote Fitness TO. Joining a gym can be expensive and while running is free, it’s tough in the wintertime. The city of Toronto has great recreational centres all over the city so join a public gym near you, watch your public dollars at work.

iRun: What is it you love about sport?

Mayor Chow: A healthy populace means people are happier. I look forward to seeing all the runners at the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon this fall.

AND that's ok!

Natasha Wodak on NOT Making the Olympics

No Canadian woman has ever run the marathon faster than Natasha Wodak, 42-year-old two-time Olympian from Surrey, BC. This summer, however, Wodak will not be competing at the Paris Olympics alongside Malindi Elmore. Despite running two-minutes under the Olympic standard just prior to the opening season for official qualifying times, she couldn’t repeat her performance and will not be racing for her country.

“I felt like a failure and like I couldn’t get it done and I hate disappointing people and I hate that I’m not going to Paris,” Wodak says in her podcast debut No Finish Lines, a joint venture between iRun Nation and All-Season Co, a leading Canadian outdoor content and apparel line. “For every Malindi that makes it, there’s a Natasha that doesn’t, but by sharing my journey, I’ve received so much support.”

Wodak says publicly facing defeat has increased her empathy, and competitive desire. When you lose everything and don’t meet your goal, there’s a reckoning. What matters most to you? How do you rebuild? Where do you go?

On No Finish Lines, Wodak describes wrestling with these emotions.

“Whether your goal is the Olympics or a PB, failing is part of life; you swallow your pride and don’t quit,” Wodak says. “People have anxiety about racing. The way to get over it is to keep toeing the line. I love racing. I love training. I have a great contract with ASICS and I’m a racer. I’m not going to the Olympics. But that doesn’t mean racing still isn’t something I love to do.”

No Finish Lines is about will, perseverance and expectations. And to find out more about Natasha Wodak, just follow her Strava. The 42-year-old thinks she can lower her marathon record—and beat the current Canadian record for half marathon time.

After every finish line crossing, a new starting line begins.

—Natasha Wodak

No Finish Line

Welcome to No Finish Line, a new podcast from iRun, produced by All-Season, a Toronto-based outdoor content and apparel brand

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NEW PODCAST ALERT!

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Alex Ratthé never ran with his father. So when the executive producer of Marathon Beneva de Montreal had a chance to run with Zachari, his 7-year-old son, he felt like he was making a lifetime memory. “It was the best race I’ve ever run in my life,” says Ratthé, whose weekend-long event beginning September 20 in Montreal has a marathon, half marathon, 10K, 5K, Quebec Mile Championship, and “kid’s run,” a 1K run reserved for children twelve and under. “I feel like the kid’s run and parents who do our 5K with their children really represent the soul of what we’re trying to accomplish with the Marathon Beneva de Montreal,” Ratthé says. “This is an inclusive event for everybody and nothing makes me happier than seeing the next generation make healthy choices—and have fun in Montreal along the way.”

Zachari, Alex’s son, raced the 1K and 5K last year in Montreal, and his dad says his 7-year-old recently ran his entire 5K at the Course des pompiers de Laval, and even sprinted the last kilometre. The smiles in the finisher’s photograph say it all: accomplishment, pride, a hunger to do it again. According to Ratthé, while world-class athletes compete in Marathon Beneva de Montreal’s competitive marathon and run clubs across Canada race hard in the half marathon, shorter distances bridge the gap between experienced racers and people attempting to participate in a running event for the first time. In Montreal, a cosmopolitan city renowned for its restaurants, bars and a vibrant French and Latin culture, the draw for runners across Canada is apparent. But now, as the Marathon Beneva de Montreal works hard to attract families and children to their races, it’s kids like Zachari that the event producer is concentrating on as he plans his extravaganza. There will be more than 27,000 people running in Montreal on September 21 and 22. It’s the littlest racers who might have the most memorable times.

“We extend our event invitation to the broadest ranges of participants, non-binary individuals, deaf athletes, rollers and athletes of all ages and abilities,” Ratthé says. “We know how much the sport means to our community and we know what Montreal provides for the entire country. Parents running with their children and kids out there racing mean the world to me. The smiles on their faces from a great weekend is a memory that they’ll have their whole life. I can’t wait to get back out with Zachari again.”

The Marathon Beneva de Montreal kicks off September 20 and features events from 1K to 42.2K, and also has distances of 5K, 10K, Quebec Mile Championship, and half marathon. Bibs are selling quickly. For more information, see mtlmarathon.com.

Marathon Beneva de Montreal is a Great Family Weekend

Events for children under 12 quickly becoming the year’s hottest ticket on September 21 in Montreal

Iten, Kenya. Home of Champions.

By Chris Dekoning

I had been wanting to visit this mythical place for the longest time. I’m not a professional. I’m just a dude that loves running. Iten is the heart.

Winter 2022, I had lost a number of great things in my life at that point. My father passed away. I broke up with my girlfriend. And just as the year was to close, I lost my job.

I did the only sensible thing and booked a ticket to Kenya. To be honest, I had no idea what I was doing. I met Jake and Magz Robertson both on separate occasions when they raced the TCS Toronto Waterfront marathon. I called them and said I was coming.

It was 36 hours door to door. I finally made it. I drove under the mythical “Welcome to Iten” sign. It was surreal. The second I threw my bags in my room, I ran down the red dirt road. It was awful. The ground is so uneven and rocky, the altitude hit me hard and the heat was scorching. This was instant regret.

There’s no way I was surviving a month here. Jake’s words stayed with me: “Iten is what you make it.”

I took that to heart right away. I wanted to be at the heart of Kenyan culture. I found myself in really odd places wondering how the hell I got there.

I got beat up really bad. I found myself so exhausted, getting ripped apart at local workouts and even easy runs. My ego was thrown out the window a number of times.

I loved it.

“There’s no way I was surviving a month here. Jake’s words stayed with me: “Iten is what you make it.”

A year after this trip, I was about to run my first Boston Marathon. It took me a decade to qualify. It just made sense to go back to Kenya.

The second visit was a lot easier. I knew where everything was and who was who.

My coach Rejean gave me my workouts and really had to estimate paces and times because numbers don’t make sense there.

My friend Lecia was also doing her first trip there, and it was beautiful spending a few weeks with someone who had the same passion, if not more.

The morning of February 12, 2024. The town woke up to the news that the fastest man on earth, Kelvin Kiptum died. The crash occurred not far from me. I went for a run and saw another runner on his knees crying. This was real. This was a tragedy.

We had originally planned a big run to end this trip. Jake also suggested a route that went straight uphill, 35K long, 750m gain, at 2500m altitude. Sometimes you only get one shot at things in life, so I went for it.

It was just the two of us. One running, one driving. I was so high in the sky, I could touch the clouds. We passed 35K. Jake was asking where I was going. 45K, I made it to Chepkorio, Kelvin’s birthplace.

Home of Champions to Home of The Champion. I looked up at the clouds in disbelief. Exhausted. Shattered. Proud.

As a regular person, what the hell was I doing on the other side of the planet doing a make-believe tribute to a person I didn’t know?

As a runner, this just all made sense.

Nate Graywolf Riech is a 29-year-old Paralympic athlete who has rewritten the record book. He says he’s just getting started.

“My goal is pretty simple—be crowned champion again.”

“I love challenges. I love laying it all out there when it matters the most,” Nate Graywolf Riech tells iRun, from a track in Victoria, British Columbia. Reich, known as the Wolf, holds the 800 metre and 1500 metre T38 world records and earned gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Oftentimes he competes against able-bodied athletes and Riech is quick to describe himself as an “athlete,” full-stop—not a Paralympian. CBC recently said he represents one of Canada’s best chances this summer at securing gold.

“I’m never going to put myself in a corner,” Riech says, and he was a semifinalist in the able-bodied national championships at the University of South Alabama. “A lot of able-bodied runners are better than me—I have no problem admitting that—but I have big goals, that’s what keeps me in the sport.”

Riech was 10-years-old and hit in the head by a golf ball when his life turned upside down and a brain injury affected the motion of the right side of his body. What would deter most mortal humans instead inflected Nate with a zealous gratitude that would imbue the rest of his days. It began in the hospital, where he grew to appreciate his new lease on life.

“I was fortunate and that changed things. Changed everything.”

“I’m human, so for sure after I got hurt you wonder why things happen to you but I also discovered in the hospital my biggest passion, which is speaking up for people with disabilities who don’t have my platform,” says Riech, who credits his parents—both elite athletes—with encouraging his positive mindset and refusal to wallow. “I also couldn’t stop thinking about my positive experience in the hospital—I had amazing resources and came into the hospital not good and left super strong. I was fortunate and that changed things, changed everything.”

Riech began running and training and racking up wins and records, publicly speaking along the way about his journey. Addled post-injury with a severe stammer, Riech says that speaking and doing interviews represented a major hurdle to overcome, but with each talk, like with each race, he grew strong. “Right after my injury, I stuttered so bad that my biggest fear was public speaking—it's like a rollercoaster and I was scared,” admits Riech, “but after I did it ten times, I discovered a passion and I love the challenge. If I can help one kid who has a traumatic brain injury who’s never heard anyone talk about it, it means the world to me. Helping other kids has become a huge motivation.”

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iRun and New Balance are teaming up to shout out the runners who inspire you to Run Your Way

Every community has one: the team leader or volunteer who brings out the best in everyone. Selfless, tireless, encouraging—these runners are the backbone of our sport and New Balance and iRun want to share their shine. Tell us who you appreciate, who helps you show up for practice, hit your pace times, or sign up for an event that you might not otherwise do. Nominate the runner you wish New Balance to thank by emailing iRun editor Ben Kaplan at ben@irun.ca, and we'll feature four exemplary runners in the fall print issue of iRun.

Running is a solo endeavour. But it's also a community sport. Let's highlight the heroes in your local crew. Through them, the rest of us are inspired to Run Your Way.

When it started in 1977, the Toronto Marathon was unique: a big city marathon that combined all the energy of Boston with the folksiness of a small town local race. Today, the Toronto Marathon—May 4, 2025—is one of the largest in the country, with thousands of runners coming from over seventy countries, contributing millions of dollars to the city as visitors, and raising more millions for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation and a host of other charities.

Putting over twenty thousand people through a city's streets, even early on Sunday morning, is a huge challenge, and logistical mishaps are inevitable when (for instance), crime necessitates police action somewhere on the course, race equipment gets stolen, hydrants are sabotaged, or outsiders intrude into the race's food provision for the runners. All those have happened. The Toronto Marathon team listens to runners, to police, to the city, to the citizens, and acts on what they learn.

The 2025 event will thus have an unprecedentedly elongated finishing chute, with plenty of food and medals, rearranged and enhanced water stations, more on-course marshals, and increased bib pick-up days, conveniently located downtown.

“We continue to work with police to make sure that roads are closed on time, so there is no delay in race starts,” says race director Jay Glassman, adding that preparations are well underway to make the 2025 Toronto Marathon Canada’s best running 5K, 10K, half marathon and marathon event.

“Putting on this race every year is something my team takes great pride in and we want to do everything we can to create an amazing experience for runners,” says Glassman, Toronto Marathon’s race director since 1995. “We take the responsibility of runner’s safety seriously and will produce an event that makes Toronto proud and shows off our running city to the rest of the world.”

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The Toronto Marathon Roars Back, New and Improved for its Forty-Seventh Birthday!

Pulling out all the stops makes this year’s event better than ever

Each year, the Toronto Marathon produces more Boston Marathon qualifiers than almost any Canadian running event, a fast, mostly downhill course that provides one of Canada's best big city running routes. Runners can expect great spectator support and amazingly fast 5K and 10K courses—with the Canadian record achieved at the 5k in 2023.

Among the luminaries who frequently attend the Toronto Marathon are the high-profile couple Roger Robinson and Kathrine Switzer. Robinson, an internationally outstanding masters runner, author, and race announcer from New Zealand, has written about the special spirit of Toronto's runners and volunteers.

"Even when the 5K and 10K in 2024 were delayed for safety reasons, all those thousands waiting in cold rain stayed cheerful and positive, me included," Robinson said when interviewed over the finish-line PA after the race.

Switzer, the world-renowned American pioneering legend of women's running, connected with some Toronto leaders of 261 Fearless, her global running organization for women.

"The Toronto Marathon's races have always been a welcoming place for women of all levels of running or walking ability. In the half marathon, 10K and 5K, women have become the majority in the last few years. It was wonderful to share Saturday's "shake-out run" with women from Costa Rica and all over the world. Jay and his team deserve credit for their inclusiveness," said Switzer.

With one of the largest finishing medals in all of sports, the Toronto Marathon cuts a distinct, fun, inclusive footprint, for athletes of all experience levels—from great African marathon racers to first-timers and kids walking in their first 5K, and past champions like Robinson (85) and Switzer (77).

The 2025 Toronto Marathon is re-energized, as well as being re-thought and re-planned in the light of previous issues. Road closures are clearly identified. Traffic disruptions will be minimised. The police are planning their run of show for the day. Volunteers are being organized and medals have been ordered. Runners will again be advised in capital letters to plan their day in awareness of Toronto's construction and traffic issues. Registration soft launched mid-July and there’s already been huge buy-in for a race ten months away.

“We believe runners should expect perfection from a big city running event and we will present a well-organized, fun, fast, safe running course that's clearly marked and stocked with plenty of food and water,” Glassman says. “Racing in Toronto has been an obsession of mine for over twenty-five years and we will deliver our best race yet.”

To register for the Toronto Marathon on May 4 and read about the Charity partners, please click here. For more information on Kathrine Switzer’s 261 Fearless, click here. www.261fearless.org

One Hundred Women Change the World

Dr. Sasha Gollish and ninety-nine friends set a record, and a course for keeping women in sport

On July 7 at the McMaster University Mona Campbell track we saw that power. Starting at 9 a.m., one hundred women began to gather to try to break the Guinness World Record for 100-by-1 mile female relay—a race broken up into one hundred individual segments, run by one hundred individual women.

Record pending, the event was a resounding success. The previous record was 9 hours and 18 minutes (~5:35/mile), achieved last year by the Nike San Francisco Women’s Miler Club. Before that, Patti Moore and Paula Schnurr had been a part of the 1999 Canadian Team that first held the record, and wanted it back. Moore and Schnurr set a goal of 9:10 (~5:30/mile) and this group of women shattered that—running 8:57:26 (~5:04/mile).

The event, however, was more than just a relay where women passed the baton to achieve the sub-9 hour goal. It was a passing of the baton in other ways, too. I’m a long-time team Canada member and I passed the baton along to Sawyer Nicholson, an up-and-coming athlete. Madeleine Kelly anchored the relay as the only Olympian in the event, so far. Because we know that this run will inspire the younger girls to keep running, and watching, chasing their own Olympic berth. Krestena Sulliva, part of the original 1999 relay team, passed off to her daughter Micah Carswell, a multi-sport athlete who also loves to run. It was that kind of day.

Sport has the power to unite us all.

While the event and its aftermath are a resounding success, it’s also a reminder of how far we still have to go. We united one hundred women. But girls drop out of sport at two to three times the rate of boys around the age thirteen. At 18, even more drop out of sport as they leave high school and start the next phase of their life. From the ASICS Move Her Mind Study, we learned that as parental pressure increases, alongside work demands, women are much less likely to participate in sport, physical activity, or exercise. We’re working to fight that.

The ASICS State of Mind Index, and the work of Dr. Brendon Stubbs, showed that just fifteen minutes of exercise and movement provides a massive boost in our mental health. While exercise benefits our physical health, the mental health benefits far outweigh the physical health benefits. As our kids lose more time in physical health, education classes, and recess, we need to think about how we can remain active alongside our children. Especially our girls.

Running is a sport that could and should have low barriers to entry. But for those outside it, it can feel hard to join our community. From lack of access to facilities, the cost of equipment, not finding a sense of belonging in the community, the barriers mount. Running is approachable, but many people—many women—still avoid it.

It’s our job—all of our jobs—to make running more inclusive, to help remove those real and perceived barriers and invite those around us to join in. Instead of thinking Couch-to-5K, help your non-running friends go Couch-to-Walking and then help them find running, framed around moving for that magical fifteen minutes. Embrace movement as part of your training. Maybe you meet your non-running friends for a walk before or after you log your kilometres. Instead of talking to your non-running friends about gear, times, or paces, share with them the joy in the freedom to fly free from your door.

On July 7, we were united in our endeavor to break a record. Through the Olympics and Paralympics this summer, we’ll unite to support all the athletes, including marathoners Malindi Elmore and Cameron Levins. Let's all use the power and joy of sport, through running, to unite us—especially our girls and women—with our communities.

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“I assumed getting back into running postpartum would be like coming back from an injury—but it’s not. It’s a whole body experience.” Dr. Brittany Moran on running as a new mom

Running After Babies

By Enid Kohler

Across Canada, BIPOC running groups make a sport a community

It was Truth and Reconciliation Day on September 30, 2021, and over 600 runners came together in Edmonton for the Orange Shirt Day Run/Walk. Along the trails, there was a sea of orange, teepees at the starting line and wooden medals at the finish line.

Anita Cardinal, Edmonton-based Nêhiyaw (Cree) ultra-trail runner, race director, lawyer, and founder of the Indigenous Runners Red Trail Running, remembers the organization’s first Orange Shirt Day Run/Walk. “I’ve never seen that before. I think I sat and cried for a week. It was so healing to bring our community together, to honour, remember, and learn.”

Cardinal has always been a runner. She founded Indigenous Runners Red Trail Running five years ago to include more Indigenous people in the sport. Cardinal says that the racing environment initially did not feel like a welcoming space to her. After her first race in her early 30s, she began to realize the real lack of Indigenous people at the start lines. “It was a lonely place, because I didn’t see very many people who looked like me,” she says. “I think that’s what attracted me to ultra running. If I’m going to be alone, I might as well be alone, right?”

Cardinal’s organization combats this sense of loneliness by fostering an inclusive, safe community for Indigenous runners. At the 60th annual Calgary Marathon in May, a team of Indigenous runners joined to run together. Cardinal says they wore their running ribbon skirts and shirts. “We stood proud and together in unity, in ceremony, and in healing,” Cardinal says.

Cardinal is not alone in noticing the limited representation of BIPOC individuals in the running space. Crossing Lines, a grassroots collective founded this year, specifically advocates for the representation of BIPOC people in the ultra-running community. Matthew Geofroy, one of four founding members of Crossing Lines, noticed a lack of people of colour at the starting lines of Ultra races. “Until you see someone who looks like you doing something, you are not necessarily sure you can do it,” Geofroy says, pointing out the necessity of their organization’s work.

Not only is Crossing Lines about crossing colour lines, it is also about crossing the start line. Kortnee Borden, a founding member of the group, says, “When it comes to ultras, you may not finish. Just crossing the start line is a big accomplishment in itself.”

Crossing Lines encourages BIPOC individuals to join the ultra-running community by removing some of the barriers associated with the sport. They provide resources like customized coaching plans, knowledge sharing sessions and financial assistance for registration fees, demonstrating their support for their budding community. In September, Crossing Lines will hold its inaugural event in Michigan by racing in Run Woodstock.

In Toronto, twins Alex and Vince Huynh saw the missing representation of Asian Canadians in the running space. Vince felt this starkly after participating in a number of run clubs. “It’s 2024. It was a bit of a shocker that the running community did not have that space for Asians,” Vince says.

Alex and Vince launched the Asian Toronto Running Club in April to promote a diverse and inclusive community for every runner, regardless of their background or fitness level. “We want to ensure that BIPOC individuals feel seen and valued,” Alex says. The group is already one of the fastest growing run clubs in Toronto, with over 150 active members. They encourage Toronto runners to join their community.

In October, the Asian Toronto Running Club will be running the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon. They look forward to representing Toronto’s Asian communities at the start line.

The Ultra Black Wellness Society, known on Instagram as Team Ultra Black, also promotes diversity within Toronto’s running scene. Growing up after moving to Canada as a refugee at age six, co-founder Diana Anyim says she did not spend much time with her parents as a child, as they were busy with work and education, but they were adamant about her playing sports. She says, “Being part of a team teaches you to have personal goals but also understand the value of support and unity.” Anyim brought the values of wellness and community into the organization. “We’re a group of Black athletes, who encourage each other and our peers to prioritize their wellness,” she says.

“We’re a group of Black athletes and we’re trying to encourage each other to prioritize their wellness.”

A registered non-profit, the organization launched in 2023 with an ultra-relay marathon from Toronto to Montreal. Now, their goal is to run an Ultra group relay or complete a group challenge every year. Once runners join Team Ultra Black, they are not alone in their training. “We are a community, and we value the growth of one another,” Anyim says.

Anyim calls for more inclusion in Canada’s running world. “It’s important for everyone to see people who look like them, in various spaces, including running,” Anyim says. “Our goal is to create a collective of inspiring Black wellness advocates to be ambassadors of positive change in our communities.”

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Once you have medical clearance, how do you know if you are ready to run? The medical consensus suggests that one should be able to pass the following tests before heading out for a run (Christopher et al., 2023):

Walk for 30mins
Single leg balance for 10s/leg
Single leg squats 10/leg
Jog on the spot for 1min
Forward bound x10
Single leg hop 10/leg
Calf raise x20
Single leg bridge 20/leg
Single leg sit to stand

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Throughout the Olympics, at 530pm EST @iRunNation on Instagram, we’ll be recapping Canada’s daily performances at the 2024 Paris Olympics with veteran race broadcaster Steve Fleck, founding board member of Canadian Endurance Sports Alliance and longtime race announcer and track & field presence. This is all in anticipation of cover star Malindi Elmore’s marathon race, to close the Olympics, on August 11 at 2am EST, where iRun will be hosting an in-person midnight run and viewing party.

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These days, there is no shortage of moms doing amazing things on the run. At 15 months postpartum, Elle St Pierre won the USA Olympic track trials 5000m in a record breaking sprint finish and followed that up by coming third in the 1500m. Canada’s very own Malindi Elmore, mother of two, will compete in the Olympic marathon, her third trip to the Games. Another Canadian, Briana Scott, who has a 2-year-old son, is headed to the Olympics in the 5000m. This can get you fired up and wanting to jump right back into training, “If these women can be at the top of their game postpartum, why can’t I?”

However, starting your return to the running journey can be intimidating and, unfortunately, there is a lack of education on the topic. First and foremost, always listen to your health team. Although you might be told by your antenatal care provider that you are OK to begin running, you may need more time. It’s worthwhile to be assessed by a pelvic physio no matter how you delivered your baby.

May we all find new finish lines.

The general guidance is that new mothers should wait three to twelve weeks and allow all birth related injuries to be healed before resuming running. Aside from that, it should be individualized—making it hard to know when is the right time. My personal experience was eleven weeks off running postpartum.

It’s important to remember that you can still be active before coming back to running.

The reason it takes a while to get back to running is due to its high impact nature. However, you can be working toward the above tests through other cardio and strength. Strength work should be specific to running (if getting back on the run as quickly as possible is your goal).

Personally, I did a lot of walking for the first six weeks and then slowly introduced the elliptical thereafter. For strength building, I started with very light work (breathing/core) and progressed to single leg and weighted work.

Now that you’re medically cleared and physically ready, you can start putting together a running plan. Leave the ego at the door and set realistic expectations. The first consideration is how long you’ve actually been away from training (not just running but real training). For me this was around twenty-five weeks, even though I ran right up until I gave birth and took eleven weeks off postpartum.

WARNING…You will not feel the same as you did previously.

Your body has literally grown, birthed and now is feeding another human! This is no small feat, and it’s fair that your body is not going to feel the same (or as good) as it once did, not to mention the current energy demands of breastfeeding and potential lack of sleep. I felt like Bambi during my first several runs and it took many weeks for my body to feel like it was my own. It has been a humbling experience and running did not feel natural until about five months postpartum, and we still have some work to do!

Here’s an example of how to ease back into running: start by going for a walk and sprinkling in jogs. I’m now eleven weeks into my return to running and I did seven weeks of run/walks, starting with every third day. I started with a brisk walk for 5-10mins, then added 5-10x of 30 seconds (slow) running + 2:30 of walking. I finished with another 5-10 minutes of brisk walking.

It was slow in the beginning. But I was able to continue progressing and I’m now back to 6x/week of straight runs. Be sure to only progress to the next run if the previous run was symptom free.

Symptoms to watch for include:

Bleeding
Pain
Lack of bladder/bowel control
Heaviness in the pelvis
Swelling
Decreased milk supply

Finally, try to embrace the process. You’re not alone in feeling like you’re in a new and different body, because you are. I assumed getting back into running postpartum would be like coming back from an injury, but it’s not. It’s a whole body experience. I’ve had more runs that feel awkward or bad than feel good or natural. Five months on, I’m starting to feel a little more normal. Everyone’s journey will be different. Do your best and try not to compare yourself or compete with others. And remember, you have the cutest new number one fan cheering you on, which is amazing.

Dr. Brittany Moran is a chiropractor, Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (NSCA) andCertified Endurance Club Coach (NCCP). Find her @TORunningChiro, torunningchiro.com. You can find more about her personal journey on Instagram and Strava. PS: She’s open to book personal appointments and lovely.

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In the know runners have been keeping the Prince Edward County Marathon on September 29 their little secret for twenty-one years but, according to race director Brian McLean, all that’s about to change.

“Seventy percent of our athletes now come from outside the Prince Edward County area so I think the word has gotten out,” says McLean with a laugh, mentioning how his event, which features a half marathon, marathon and Ultra 50K, has grown each year based on word of mouth and delighted runners’ experiences. “We know our event has some of Ontario’s most scenic routes and given the convivial atmosphere and charming backdrop, the County Marathon, we think, might be the single best destination race in Ontario this fall.”

The event is so charming, in part, because the towns have come to embrace the run as their own. A point-to-point course starting in Wellington, running through Bloomfield, through Sandbank Provincial Park alongside Lake Ontario, which creates a gentle breeze, the event passes by farmhouses, art galleries and distilleries, with plenty of local wineries and craft beer at the finish line. Promising water stations every four kilometres for the first half of the marathon, and then every two kilometres for the back half of the race, the event is the perfect blend of professionalism—the run is a Boston-qualifier and top-seeded African runners compete each year—and good times that make it a bucket list fall destination race.

“I think what we’re really most proud of is how the community has come to take pride in the run and I love how it’s become almost a reunion for out-of-town runners each fall,” adds McLean, mentioning how runners planning overnight trips can now receive a 10% discount at placesinpec.ca. “When the event was conceived, the idea was to make something fast and fun that didn’t already exist in Ontario on the race calendar and, as we’ve gotten better each year, we think we’re really hitting our stride. I expect this fall to be our best event yet!”

Prince Edward County Marathon is Fall’s Best Destination Race in Ontario

County Marathon shows off the lake in its twenty-first year of bringing runner’s joy and delight

The County Marathon, with its pristine waterline views, rolling hillsides, farmland, historic energy and crisp, clean Prince Edward County air, is unlike any other event this fall. Friendly and fun, the race is evocative and fast and the backdrop is unrivaled almost anywhere in the world. Brian McLean says he’s pleased to invite all of iRun Nation to his race.

“We know that when runners come out here and try racing, they generally wind up signing up almost immediately to do it again,” says McLean. “There’s lots of running events for runners to choose from, but we think we have something genuinely special at the County Marathon.”

For more information on the County Marathon and to register before prices go up, please see thecountymarathon.ca.