The People Who Cheer

March 9, 2022

The other day a couple of race directors were talking about the return of their in-person events and they touched upon something special: the idea of audiences returning to watch us race. Is there any greater act of generosity than standing on the side of the road and applauding strangers pass by? And, as runners, is there anything that feels quite as good? For some extraordinary human beings, I am told, the giving of applause feels just as good as the receiving.

“I love cheering because it is nice to see what it looks like from the sideline. I give support and encouragement to fellow runners in a pay-it-forward kind of way,” wrote a runner-cheerer on the iRun Facebook page. “I’m the one with the cowbell.”

I was racing around an oval on Saturday, laps in and out of the wind, and, while I was finding encouragement in my music, there really was very little incentive to cause myself pain. Sure, it should be inherent and every race should be like the Olympics, but, the truth is, running around in circles in early March in the grey, cold bleakness kind of sucks. Maya Anderson, who owns BlackToe Running, was cheering and it struck a chord. Her cheering made me try harder and, at nearly 48, tired and cranky, I almost hit a PB.

“Seeing people pushing themselves and knowing from first-hand experience the difference it can make to have someone encouraging you, the energy boost you get from hearing your name—even if it’s from a stranger—can change everything about your race experience,” says Heather Gardner, founder of KardiaAthletica, and a legendary cheerer at Ontario events. “Nothing I like better than standing for hours to cheer on your run family and run community, getting blisters on our fingers from clanging cowbells and holding cheer signs, and losing our voice from all the You got this! at the top of our lungs.”

Don’t think those cheers don’t help set records. I know for a fact that even the Olympians are energized by the applause. Reid Coolsaet, after he’s lapped me, never breaks a smile when I yell out his name, but he’s acknowledged afterward that he can hear me and it helps. Krista DuChene, like Coolsaet, an Olympian, says that the cheers mean a lot to her when she races. “Occasionally the odd person distinctly yells out, Go Krista!, and that makes me smile. It’s heart-warming to have an engaged and positive audience,” says DuChene, who coaches with Coolsaet as part of CoolsaetGo. “The cheering is particularly helpful when you’re hitting a rough point and need it most.”

Krista DuChene, when she hits a tough spot, is often competing to be the fastest Canadian marathon runner of all-time, like she did in 2013, when she bested Silvia Ruegger’s longtime marathon record only to come in thirty-one seconds behind record-breaking Lanni Marchant. Cheering, on days like those, makes history. But it’s not the elites where the applause matters most. It’s in the middle of the pack or, dare I say, the very back. Sandra Holder is 70-years-old and has run twenty-three marathons and seventeen times finished the 30K Around the Bay. In 2017, Holder was competing at Around the Bay and had enjoyed her run—though, if she’s being honest, she says, it was more a walk.

“Because I’m so far behind everybody else, I get all the cheers personally,” Holder says, with a laugh.

At the end of her race, some five hours after the event started, in very last place, Holder crosses the finish line and lets out a yell. At that moment, confetti falls, a band plays and the audience goes wild. Holder may just shed a tear (watch the video here). Holder says applause from strangers is like manna from heaven. An unexpected decency that sparks joy, stirs the human spirit, and reminds us all of what’s possible: in life, and in running. Not just good finishing times. Good times that are shared, and remembered. With in-person racing returning, the opportunity for this connection awaits us all.

“A smile is the one thing that costs you nothing,” says Holder. “You give it and you get it back and you can lift somebody—a total stranger doing something for other people.”

Recollections on Boldness for International Women’s Day

Anna Lee Boschetto

March 8, 2022

Running a marathon is bold. When I ran my tenth in Los Angeles last November, I felt undeniably bold and fiercely defiant. At 47, after two long years without a live race and three since my last marathon, I took a last-minute opportunity to run the L.A. Marathon without any real training under my fuel belt. Full disclosure, I wouldn’t recommend running a marathon without proper training to anyone. But it was the right thing for me. There was a time when I would have hesitated, and rightly so. I would have obsessed about all that was against me in running a marathon that was across the continent when I was so unprepared. Times have changed in major ways. I’m not missing out on opportunities to live it out loud anymore.

How’s that for being bold, if not a little crazy?

Today is International Women’s Day, and this year’s theme calls on us to Be Bold. It invites us to be a part of an inclusive world. In so many ways we have made much progress on the road to equality yet at the same time, there is much more work to be done. From Kathrine Switzer and Silvia Ruegger to Lanni Marchant and Krista DuChene, these women—and so many others—have not only pushed our sport to new levels, but they have all inspired us to be brave and bold in our own ways.

Sometimes, being bold is about embracing your imperfections. In this imperfect world, we are told, that our goal as women, is to work towards some intangibly perfect way to be. This is one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from running: it’s not about perfection, it never has been. As women, these messages on every level are daunting—if not damaging. Running will force you to recognize and own your shortcomings—then encourage you to getting out there and do it anyway.

Patience, persistence, and perseverance. These are some of the key ingredients to finding the wherewithal to embracing your boldness. There are days when I know that running onward is where there is joy to be found and I don’t want to miss it just because my training plan isn’t quite where I want it to be. Strength, hope and belief in myself guides me during these uncertain times.

Running has given me all of this and more.

Physically and mentally, this sport takes me outside. When I need it most running gives me a focus and purpose—a reason to keep on going. Through career shifts, relationship breakups and all of life’s invariable pivots, running is my constant. Without in-person races, running challenged me to be bold, push past my limits and take that leap of faith when I thought I might not have it in me. Even when I couldn’t run, my body forcing me to take a break from the sport I had come to rely upon, I learned more. Taking it day by day, one moment, one step at a time, running showed me I could pull myself back together, and begin all over again.

As a woman in her mid-forties, navigating the uncertainty of life—career, parenthood, relationships—it can all be a little overwhelming. Running gives me the extra breathing room, the space I need to get out, then come back with a clear mind, ready to tackle whatever life lays down for the day. When I lace up, I’m not always confident in myself. Whether or not I feel a confident vibe, I know I’m always going to finish (and some days that’s more than enough). Running adds the bandwidth required to make sense of the chaos and make better choices when I need to the most.

As a parent, having my two daughters seeing me run and race is a reflection of what is possible for them. I don’t look like the typical runner, let alone marathoner. In nearly two decades of consistently racing, I’ve found the courage to keep on putting one foot in front of the other. Through all of life’s stages, no matter the distance, running has been an ongoing reminder that anything is possible, and our lives are irreplaceable.

On that racecourse in L.A., pounding the pavement along Hollywood Boulevard, well-trained or not, my spirit powered me forward. It was my brash, bold desire to cross that finish line in Century City that had guided me along the toughest miles and carried me across that finish line. In life, as in running, we may not always be as prepared as we want to be, yet we can still keep going. While I have learned that lesson before, I’ve also found there’s much satisfaction in simply doing the very best we can, especially when the odds are against us. Sometimes, that’s more than enough.

Running isn’t about perfection. It’s about embracing the imperfection and finding the beauty that makes each of us uniquely different. It’s a boldness that comes from within each one of us. Next time you’re lacing up, consider the ways in which you can be a little bolder. Take the risk. Make the change. Embrace the challenge. Even if you don’t think you have what it takes, you will find yourself becoming bolder, braver, and stronger along the way.

Anna Lee Boschetto is an iRun contributor. An avid avid runner and traveler, she recently ran her 10th marathon in Los Angeles and enjoyed every moment.

The Golden Girl on Ukraine, five Olympics, and breaking barriers

Ben Kaplan

March 2, 2022

29 Aug 1999: The Bahamas relay team display their gold medals for the 4x100m event during the World Athletics Championships held at the Estadio Olimpico in Seville, Spain. \ Mandatory Credit: Shaun Botterill /Allsport

Pauline Davis-Thompson is a racing pioneer with three Olympic medals at five Olympic Games under her belt and the prestigious title of being the first Black woman on the management board of the World Athletics council. She was a central figure in the Russian anti-doping campaign, which makes her reflections very timely right now, and she’s recently written the terrific book, Running Sideways: The Olympic Champion Who Made Track & Field History. Ben Kaplan spoke to Pauline and left the conversation inspired.

Ben Kaplan: Where are we reaching you this morning, Pauline?

Pauline Davis-Thompson: The beautiful island of the Bahamas. Sending you some heat, I can’t even imagine what it’s currently like in Canada.

BK: Cold, indeed. Let’s get right into it. Obviously with Russia in the news and your experience with taking on Russia in your anti-doping work, what can you tell us about your thoughts on the war in the Ukraine?

PDT: I’ve visited Ukraine and it’s a beautiful place with warm, friendly people and obviously this is a terrible situation. I feel terrible for the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian athletes.

BK: I think this war is hitting people really hard.

PDT: These past few days I’ve just felt really upset because I love democracy and my time in the Ukraine was really impactful. I’ve been on my knees, praying and praying and praying and asking God to cover the Ukrainian people.

BK: Let’s go back to your early days.

PDT: I grew up in the ghetto.

BK: The ghetto?

PDT: Yeah, and I didn’t even realize we were poor, but I think that’s where I found my mental toughness.

BK: Were you always fast?

PDT: As a kid, I ran everywhere. I never walked. And a lot of people would say I’d one day become a great athlete. They thought I moved around the ghetto like a whip. They’d go: There goes Pauline!

BK: Could you see a future for yourself in running shoes?

PDT: I wasn’t aware of wanting to be a great track athlete until I went to junior high and casually went out to make the team and, when I didn’t make it, I cried and cried. That’s when the seed was planted.

BK: That seed grew quickly because, as a high schooler, you ran in your first Olympics.

PDT: At 14-years-old, I became the Bahamas top sprinter. But what I really remember is, in 1982, racing against the Jamaicans and having them beat us every year. I told my team, They’re not winning next year. I was just a little kid. But the next year we raced the Jamaicans, I won the 100m, 200m, 400m and the long jump—the first time in history any athlete had ever done that.

BK: How did your life change?

PDT: Well, I was still living in the ghetto, but they dubbed me, the Golden Girl.

BK: And when you got to the Olympics?

PDT: I was like a kid in the candy store. I remember this young American silver medallist gave me a pair of tights in Helsinki and, just like that, I was the first Bahamian to race in tights!

BK: Between 1984 and 2000, you made five Olympic teams. Does it ever become routine?

PDT: Routine? The Olympic Games? No, no, no—that’s impossible!

BK: How did the experience change?

PDT: I was much more focused as I became more mature. Nothing phased me. I was living in the zone and nobody was allowed to come into the zone. I had no idea what was happening around me. I was that clued in.

BK: Marion Jones would ultimately get disqualified for a doping violation when you got your 2000 gold medal in Sydney. What’s your take on doping?

PDT: They’re gutless, spineless athletes who take drugs, morally warped.

BK: Were you ever tempted, given the rampant use amongst your competitors?

PDT: I never had any desire to take any drugs. God gave me a gift, a gift of purpose, and he’s going to allow me to shine. I have strong faith and that’s my mentality.

BK: At 55-years-old, what’s changed about your life since your racing days?

PDT: I don’t feel 55. I exercise, coach, eat healthy, and really practice appreciation. I can’t believe how far I’ve come from the ghetto in the Bahamas to a council member for 14 years and the first Black woman on the council and the five Olympics, you know: wow.

BK: Really it’s an amazing story.

PDT: My mother always says, Sweet pea, baby, it ain’t how you start, it’s how you finish. I’m proud to have set the table for other Caribbean women in sport. Your circumstances don’t determine what you do in your life.

Top photo credit, the Nassau Guardian. Middle credit, the University of Alabama Athletics.

Discarding Masks on Race Courses is Disgusting and Out of Control

Ben Kaplan

March 2, 2022

2021RunCalgary_Marathon_DH-9106091 — Highlights from the Calgary Marathon at Stampede Park in Calgary, AB, on September 19, 2021.

A race director working at the Calgary Marathon in September describes runners tossing their masks at the finish line like “graduation day, with people flinging them off as quick as they could after crossing the line.” Masks, not valedictory caps, dotted the skyline and then, after the runners received their medals, they walked away, leaving organizers, and volunteers, to take rakes to the course and sweep up the discarded masks like so many leaves on an Albertan driveway. The takeaway? Gross.

“Don’t be a slob,” says David Papineau, 53, a Vancouver-based runner with a 2:44 marathon time and 31,000 masks picked up on the Vancouver streets. “Runners are used to grabbing a cup during a race and throwing it on the ground—that’s the culture we’re used to—but masks aren’t the same thing. I just feel like: Don’t throw the damn thing on the ground.”

We feel the same way. Let’s say there’s 15,000 runners this spring at the Vancouver Marathon. And let’s say 50% of participants feel inclined to wear masks at the start line and in their corral. Say 30% of these runners toss their masks on the course like so much rice at a wedding. That’s over 2,000 dirty, sweaty discarded masks for someone else to have to inhale. “When I ran the Calgary Marathon last September, the majority of runners just threw their mask on the ground after starting,” says Leanne Loney, who was there competing at the marathon. “I put my mask on my elbow and ran that way. I got a new one when I crossed the finish line and disposed of my pre-race mask in the trash.”

This is what we’re advising all race participants to do. David Papineau has a cloth mask, and he wears it at the start line and then, when he gets going, he gingerly places it in a ziplock bag and stores his mask in his shorts. He puts it back on after crossing the finish line. A race director captured the unfathomable thinking of runners who take a different approach with materials they want to discard.

Papineau, pictured on a day when he collected 75 masks.

“I am surprised that runners feel that on race day you can pretty much treat the city like a giant garbage bin and toss anything you want on the ground and expect a volunteer to pick it up,” the race director said. “How many runners or anyone for that matter do this on a walk, run or hike? Why do the rules change on race day?”

The return of in-person racing is a wonderful thing and equally triumphant, as we head into warmer weather and spring, is the decline in COVID cases and the general reemergence of humans, and runners, from their quarantine and into the world. But with our re-joining society, there’s a social contract that must be abided by, for the general well-being of those in the community we love.

David Papineau has picked up more than 31,000 masks. “I have the desire to make the world a better place,” he says, “I think that’s ingrained in me as a runner.”

Don’t make David, or anyone, pick up your mask. It’s disgusting.

Run for Ahmaud Arbery

Ben Kaplan

February 23, 2022

Ahmaud Arbery was shot and murdered in a confrontation with Gregory and Travis McMichael. It took more than two months for the men to be arrested, along with the neighbour who filmed the death.

It took a year for Gregory and Travis McMichael to be convicted. It took another year (2/22/22) from the trial for federal courts to deem Ahmaud’s murder a hate crime.

Accountability. Justice. Why did it take two months?

I could focus on the worry a Black person might have when running—the safety of running. I could talk about safe spaces for Black runners within the running community; however, my main focus is to shed light on anti-Black racism and hold the system accountable. All systems.

“Ahmaud was a kid you can’t replace because of the heart he had,” said his father at the court house after his son’s killers were convicted of a hate crime yesterday in Brunswick, Georgia. “I’m struggling with that every day.”

I know this is an American story. However, anti-Black racism does not stop at the border. It happens in Canada. As a community, we are now having honest conversations about how systems are designed for some, and different for others. Let us not forget that the former District DA, Jackie Johnson, in Ahmaud’s case, covered up the crime and was later arrested.

Would the murders have gotten away with it if there was no video? Think about that for a moment.

It has happened many times before.
If there was no video, that was shared and amplified.
No running of 2.23 miles on Ahmaud’s birthday,
No attention from Alison Désir, engaging the running community to get involved.

I wonder, would the public push to seek justice and accountability have been so great?

I run to remember Ahmaud, but I’m also running as a reminder of the other stories of anti-Black racism. To amplify the stories of victims overlooked by a system designed to manage—and not hold others accountable because of the colour of their skin.

The story of Peter Spencer, a 29-year-old shot and killed in December, is a reminder of this. Peter Spencer’s family said he was in Venango County, Pennsylvania, with a friend on a camping trip when he was killed. A story that was brought to my attention by @Browngirloutdoorworld in an Instagram post.

I run because Ahmaud Arbery could not finish his run.

I run to shine a light on anti-Black racism. In Canada, and all over the world.

To follow Melanie Murzeau and the Black Runners of the GTA on Instagram, please click here.
#BlackLivesMatter

#BRGTAfinishtherunagainstanti-blackracism

Photograph by @dre.run.

iRun Joy Club: Adaptation, Consistency, Adjustments

Ben Kaplan

February 23, 2022

You got this.

As we move through the second month of running in 2022, we’re almost done with the worst that winter. I’ve always said that if you can pick up running and train through a harsh North American winter then the spring-through-fall seasons should be a breeze. Last month, we focused on building a routine, creating sustainable habits, and starting to work on that foundation we’ll need in place for more specific workouts in the spring.

This month, we’re going to cover adaptation and how it changes the way we train through a season, consistency in execution (in training for now, but it will pay dividends in racing!), and how to make adjustments based on the feedback our body and mind is giving us.

When you are thinking about putting together a training plan for a race, a season, or even a year, it is important that you constantly use feedback to adjust. You are where you are today, and most runners typically have an idea of where they want to get to and when they want to get there (i.e.: “I want to be able to run 42.2km on May 29th,” “I want to run 5km in 25:00 on April 16th,” etc.), so the part in between can take many paths.

“To win is not important. To be successful is not even important. How to plan and prepare is crucial. When you plan very well and prepare very well, then success can come on the way. Then winning can come on your way.” Eliud Kipchoge

Adaptation

When individuals take up running they typically do so because they want to achieve some goal. Sometimes that goal is a race and sometimes it is simply to lead a healthier lifestyle.

Regardless, to achieve that goal sometime in the future they start training and the body responds to this training by adaptation. Adaptation is what allows you to run further, faster, or easier in the future compared to today after a period of training. Adaptation is how athletes improve!

So what does that mean for you? Well, the training you are doing today is likely a bit different than it was if you picked up running at the start of the year. You may be running longer, you might find your pace is a little quicker, or it just might feel easier. Either way, as you adapt to your current training load—running volume x running intensity—you are going to need to introduce some variation to continue seeing improvements over the long term. Perhaps you tack on a kilometre to your long run each week, throw in a fartlek session, or maybe you introduce some basic strength training.

The key is to continue to balance introducing new stress with recovery to continue the process of adaptation.

On the other hand, you may find that you bit off a bit more than you could chew and your body isn’t adapting positively to the training, maybe you are running too much too soon, and you need to adjust things in the other direction. This is completely okay. When I write training I fully expect that athletes will not end up doing it exactly as written. It is merely a roadmap that changes based on how the athlete progresses. The most important takeaway is to tune into how you are adapting and make the necessary adjustments to keep it positive!

You can do this. The worst of the winter is almost over. Hang in.

In March, we will cover consistency in execution—in training for now, but it will pay dividends in racing— and how to make adjustments based on the feedback our body and mind is giving us. I believe, particularly in the longer events, that many runners do not invest enough thought and effort into execution in individual sessions and races, nor do most have a framework to adjust their program if they find themselves burning out or getting too fit too early.

Keep running, keep enjoying, and stay tuned!

How Not to Run from Mayor Rob Ford

Ben Kaplan

February 22, 2022

When Toronto Mayor Rob Ford begin running in order to lose weight, the Mayor was outspoken and ambitious. He wanted to lose 50 pounds and called his journey: “Cut the Waist.” At the time, I was a reporter with the National Post and had just started a running column, and I wanted to understand what Mayor Ford’s training looked like. I went to Scarlett Heights High School, near his home in Etobicoke in the winter of 2012, and randomly found him there. He was aiming to run 20 laps around the football field. He was wearing cotton sweatpants and a hooded sweatshirt and, though snow was on the ground, his face was red and he was sweating.

“Gotta get it done,” he said when I caught up with. He was out of breath.

Mayor Rob Ford was a lot of things, but this isn’t a political column. This is a running column and plenty of new people have come to our sport during COVID-19. There’s lessons to be learned from the Mayor’s earnest attempt at losing weight and running; an attempt which, ultimately, failed. But why did it fail? For new runners getting into the sport, or even continuing runners looking to keep up their training in pursuit of a spring PB, here’s some takeaways from reviewing my running days with Mayor Rob Ford.

First, what worked.

Mayor Ford publicized his goals. It’s well known that if you have a goal, and announce it to the world, that goal is more likely to be achieved than if you keep it quiet. The Mayor announced that he’d lose 50 pounds in a City Hall press conference, and then scheduled weekly weigh-ins to publicly hold himself to the fire. These are good ideas. What’s your goal for the spring? Tell people. And this is why apps like Strava or RunKeeper are addictive—document your progress. You can’t get to a half marathon in Ottawa in late May without first getting a 10K under your belt next month. Make a goal, and document your progress.

The running worked adjacent with his dieting goals. Running doesn’t exist in a vacuum. If you really want to achieve something in your running shoes this spring, make sure your diet corresponds. It’s not just long runs and speed work, but also work in massage. Stretching. Do the little things. So often runners run and just run—it’s what we love to do and it takes up lots of time. But if you can also watch your diet, cut out junk food, avoid late nights, get a good night’s sleep, your running will simultaneously improve. Run, but also do the other stuff. Take the stairs.

Train where you’re comfortable. When I went to find Mayor Ford, I found him in the first place I looked: the track closest to his home. This is a good thing. You don’t want to make your running overly elaborate, and so it’s a chore just to begin. Set yourself up for success. Running blocks around your home is where I began running, and it’s still where I run today. Make the work the stuff you do in your sneakers, make everything else as simple as can be. This starts with where you’re running. The Mayor ran outside his home. Run where it’s easy to run, and keep it consistent. Run close to home.

Now, what didn’t work.

The Mayor was soaking wet in his cottons. It was 2012 when the Mayor started running. But running technology was already much more advanced than dressing like a work-from-home day on Zoom. Lycra and poly-blend running-specific clothing are no longer very expensive and, when spending a few dollars on the proper gear, you’re much more likely to stick with the sport. Mayor Ford didn’t look like a runner when I saw him outside hustling. He looked like a football coach, which he was. Dress for the sport and it will help put you in the mindset of successfully completing your goal—it’s not only more comfortable and more effective, but it will give you a psychological edge. It doesn’t have to be expensive, but get the proper running gear. You won’t like swimming either if your bathing suit keeps falling off.

The Mayor was running all alone. What if the Mayor had someone on staff who he was running with, and the two of them had signed up for the Sporting Life 10K? What if he trained with the Running Room or, where I run, BlackToe? Just like how announcing your goal makes it more likely to happen, so does training with a group of people for a common race. Having teammates keeps you accountable, plus it makes it more fun. It turns makes running, something physical, also something social: accomplishing two intrinsic human needs. Wherever you are in the country, there’s likely a run club. Difficult things are harder when we’re on our own. Seek out a group or team in your training. Running is an individual sport, but it’s better achieved when you’re not on your own. Run with a crew or a friend.

Don’t make your goal too massive. Mayor Rob Ford rarely went for half-measures. But, I’d argue, he would’ve had a better success ratio if he bit off as much as he chewed. Instead of trying to lose 50 pounds, he could’ve shot for losing ten-pounds five times. Before giving up on his weight loss program, he’d lost 22 pounds. Mayor Ford could’ve celebrated his success. I always tell people shooting for the marathon, run a 10K first. Make your goals achievable. And celebrate each one. Create your own momentum. Before you run a marathon, get your running consistent. We shouldn’t be in a race to achieve change, we want to create a sustainable new way of life. Set yourself goals you can likely achieve. Celebrate your journey. If the goal is miserable, you’re likely only to achieve it once.

Mayor Rob Ford is a divisive figure from a chaotic period of time. But when I think back of our run together, I wish I could’ve helped him, like I’m sure so many people have thought about his life. As a runner, the Mayor had so much potential. For all the new people entering our sport, there’s things you can learn from, and mistakes to avoid, from Mayor Rob Ford.

Photograph of Ben Kaplan with Mayor Rob Ford on January 22, 2012. Photo by CJ Baek.

Who are those people running shirtless in the freezing cold?

Ben Kaplan

February 16, 2022

Deanna Brasz knows that other runners think she’s nuts. All winter long, she runs in her sports bra and shorts and, whether jumping over snow banks or doing speed work on ice, Brasz, 28, remains shirtless. She says wintertime is her favourite time to run.

“It’s so beautiful in the winter—I can’t get enough,” says Brasz, who echoes that calibre of runner we’ve all seen running topless while the smoke forms from their breath and their run club members switch to hot chocolate from Nuun. “A lot of people tell me I’m brave, but other people tell me I’m psycho. Neither thing really bothers me. I just know I have to keep moving or I’m going to freeze.”

We’ve all been there on a February long run: showing up for a workout dressed more like for a camping weekend than for a hard session at the track. But the people who run in the wintertime dressed for summer—singlets and shorts, or else running in no shirt at all—come ready for battle. Dr. Greg Wells, a performance coach and scientist in translational medicine at the Hospital for Sick Children, is an advocate of the cold plunge, and he says these types of extreme winter warriors are tapping into deep reservoirs of motivation. “When you run shirtless in the winter, you have to live in the present moment and you can’t think about anything else,” says Dr. Wells, adding that there’s lessons to be learned for the long-distance runner in this kind of temperature challenge. “It’s all about setting intentions and, when things get difficult, letting go and relaxing. I think running without a shirt in the wintertime is incredibly valuable training for controlling your mindset.”

Of course it can also be dangerous. Brasz says sometimes her legs go numb and she can’t feel anything and Dr. Wells warns that a runner should never take a cold plunge on their own. Benhur Pereira is a winter runner who not only goes topless, but sometimes also runs on the Rideau Canal at Christmas without shoes. At minus 18, shirtless, he can talk to a fellow runner; at minus 25, he says, talking becomes more difficult. “Minus 33,” he says, “is the point where talking is not possible—you just keep running. Without being strong mentally, everything falls apart.”

The mental part is the key for embracing cold temperatures. Pereira says you have to lean into the experience and make each step intentional. It’s actively participating in your workout. Do that, or else—like a coyote still running when she’s no longer on the cliff—you freeze.

“I’m completely in a different zone when I’m running in the winter without shoes or a shirt and if you get distracted and start panicking, you’ll start feeling cold,” he says, “but as long as you focus on your breathing and keep your breathing calm and you’re not panicking, I find it empowering. I do it for my mental health.”

Mental health, especially these days, is of tantamount importance and we’re all looking for ways to stay motivated and positive, optimistic and engaged. Many runners show up for winter races in shorts and singlets and there’s something to the shirtless-in-the-wintertime concept that ties directly to keeping an edge. Brasz is an ultramarathon runner with an outgoing personality, which is also important because running in a sports bra on the snow is guaranteed to attract looks. She pays them no mind, or else draws energy from her audience. The world bends to the will of Deanna Brasz.

“People do a double-take when they see me, but I just smile. I think seeing me makes other runners feel like they have to go harder,” she says, adding that she runs faster in the winter than the summertime, when she wears the same outfit in the heat as in the cold and finishes her August runs “looking like I just came out of a swimming pool.”

“I don’t wear pants anymore when I run—ever,” she told me. “It makes me feel more alive.”

Natasha Wodak Wins Again

Ben Kaplan

February 16, 2022

At the Vancouver Half Marathon on Sunday, Olympian Natasha Wodak won again. “My desire and my passion have not wavered,” Wodak told iRun in an exclusive interview from San Diego, where she’s training for a spring half marathon before running the Boston Marathon on April 18. “My switch to the marathon from the 10,000 gave me a whole new approach to running. I feel like I just started running again.”

Wodak finished her race on Sunday—where Lucas Bruchet came in first for the men—with a time of 71:31, setting a course record and finishing ahead of her sometime training partner, fellow Olympian Malindi Elmore and Leslie Sexton, who won the 10K Championships back in October in Toronto. For Wodak, following her thirteenth-place marathon finish in Tokyo, the season back hasn’t been easy. She was understandably tired following the Games and finished in a disappointing 33:30 at the 10K Championship in Toronto. She followed that with a nagging injury and admits it’s taken some time to find her form after her massive Olympic year.

“The 10K was a difficult pill to swallow, but I’m glad I did it, I just had to work my way back to when things started clicking again,” the 40-year-old two-time Olympian says, before offering praise to Eric Chene and the Run Vancouver team behind Sunday’s race. “It just felt so awesome to do this,” says Wodak. “I’ve missed in-person running in my hometown over the last two years.”

Left to right, Malinda Elmore, Natasha Wodak & Leslie Sexton

The awesome feelings are still far from over for Wodak, who finds encouragement in the attitude, and accomplishments of Malindi Elmore. At 44, Elmore, the Canadian female all-time marathon record holder at 2:26:56, is far from ready to hang up her shoes. It’s an energy, says Wodak, that’s infectious, as well as fun.

“Malindi keeps inspiring me every day,” says Wodak, adding that, when asked about the marathon in the Paris Olympics, 2024, Elmore says: “We’re going. That’s not even a question.”

When faced with that kind of confidence, and the joy expressed all over the Vancouver race paths on Sunday—where her community, family and friends were spread out all over the course, and at the brunch spots after her win—Wodak says she’s not only excited about her next race, but also feeling gracious for the path all of us runners choose.

“I love the lifestyle and just feel very, very fortunate,” says Wodak. “It’s a dream.”

The Toronto Marathon Returns Reunited Runners

Ben Kaplan

February 16, 2022

Since 1977, the Toronto Marathon has been synonymous with good times and fast times, one of Canada’s best big city races. Drawing participants from around the world, and running icons like Kathrine Switzer, the Toronto Marathon on May 1, will be Canada’s first large-scale in-person event since the start of the pandemic.

The pent-up demand has race director Jay Glassman and his team excited to be among the first large-scale events to welcome runners back after a two year absence.

“The city has changed over the course of the COVID pandemic, but running has only increased as has the desire of Canadian runners for a big in-person event to compete in,” says Glassman, who has been race director of the Toronto Marathon since 1995. “It’s a return to running, a return to racing, and I can say that our entire team is looking forward to welcoming runners back.”

A distance for every ability, the Toronto Marathon offers a fast Boston-qualifying marathon, half marathon, 5 and 10K events. The multiple distances are all offered on a single day, May1, and the event is fun and imbued with positive feelings as runners make their way through the many neighbourhoods of Toronto to the finish line at the Exhibition Grounds. With robust cheering from the thousands of spectators lining the point-to-point course and more than 1,200 enthusiastic volunteers, the Toronto Marathon is where this author, in fact, scored his lifetime PB, finally breaking three hours in 2016. Indeed, the Toronto Marathon is poised to become the running world’s Coachella—a once in a lifetime running event that’s guaranteed to bring runners together from far and wide.

“We know, given everything that we’ve all been through over that past two years, that runners are looking forward participating in a ‘live event’ with other competitors in a race that draws people from over 60 countries,” says Glassman, adding that, for many new racers who picked up running during the pandemic, his event will be their first taste of the best part of our sport. “It’s an exciting time to be a race director. It’s an exciting time to welcome people back to our sport.”

For more information on the Toronto Marathon, please go to: torontomarathon.com.

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