This past year was tough for everybody but teachers experienced their own brand of chaos. Adapting to online education with a band of restless youth often presiding on their computers before their frustrated parents, teachers had to assuage adults while educating kids in environments that were not built for the essential purposes of learning. 

In speaking with teachers who run, we heard about the principles every runner needs to achieve their goals: patience, perseverance, hard work, faith, determination, and consistency. 

“This year was the marathon of all school years. There were no shortcuts, no easy way out,” says Robyn Michaud-Turgeon, who draws parallels between her experiences teaching through COVID with her run at the Chicago Marathon: “I really had no idea what to expect. Sure, I had run before, but had I ever conquered 26.2? I remember things going sideways as early as 14km, when I REALLY wasn’t expecting it—I panicked and in came the negative self-talk. That whole last half of the race was mental gymnastics and I had to change my game plan several times to adapt to whatever came my way,” she says. “In the end, I survived. It wasn’t pretty, but man, that medal around my neck was earned just for the mental battle I was able to wage, and win. This school year was the EXACT SAME FEELING.”

The exuberance of finishing a race is mirrored by many of us with the feeling of making it at least partially through the pandemic and being able to resume some semblance of a regular life. With vaccination rates rising and more things opening up, not to mention the end of the school year, there is a notion of crossing some sort of finish line. Lyndsay Tessier, one of Canada’s fastest marathon runners and a teacher of 8 and 9-year-olds, said she used her running to balance out the stress of this past year.  

“At the beginning of last year when the pandemic first started, I struggled and found that if I didn’t carve out some time for myself to go running then my four walls could swallow me whole,” says Tessier, a competitive racer and 2021 Olympic marathon substitute who used the pandemic to ease off her training and run more for mental health than to hit pace times. She says her running was the one aspect of her life during COVID-19 where she assumed control.  

“It was only when I was running when I remembered: Oh yeah, I can line up with some of the world’s best. I can make this Google doc for an 8-year-old.”

Teachers do their job day in and day out, and often times their work isn’t rewarded. The job they do can be missed by prizes, the press and big money and often it’s the little things where they see their successes. It comes with an inherent pride and commitment and, in some cases, not all, but a belief in something with a payout down the road, if they just keep doing their best. With running, like with teaching, to achieve something special, especially during a pandemic, you have to be strong, and carry on.   

“Pivot” was the buzzword this year and that’s what we all did in January to full-remote learning. I had a full-out panic attack the night before thinking “I can’t do this!”” admits Michaud-Turgeon. “Then I looked at the medal rack on my bedroom wall and said, “Oh, heck ya I can.” And I did. We all did.”

Thank you to all the teachers, sincerely, from iRun magazine.

My best advice for you, the New Runner:

I started running in the same way so many of us did: straight up peer-pressure. Someone I worked with whom I admired wanted me to train for a half marathon with her, so I did it. Our first training run is seared into my brain for eternity: -30 degrees in Winnipeg, snow blowing and falling thickly over the sidewalk. My lungs burned; my heart pounded. Every step felt like a mistake. The snow eventually faded, I kept training through the spring, and it got easier. Not easy, but easier. We lined up on race day, excited and as ready as we were going to be. It was hard and there were many walk breaks…I cried through a good part of mile 13. We eventually made it to the finish line and crossing it was like something I had never felt before. I was unbelievably proud of myself, and I knew without at doubt I would do it all over again. 

Likely with COVID, you have not been able to have your first race experience other than possibly virtually, so I will tell you this and hope that you keep it close to your heart: races will come and go but the thing that will keep you in it for the long haul is the people. As we begin the path of coming back together in person, it is so important to remember that like so much else in life, you get out of it what you put in. When you show up, make connections and act as a cheerleader for others, it will all come back to you. 

People will share their greatest joys and deepest sorrows with you on a run. I had the privilege of running a half with a pace group that was all runners completing their first race. It was like seeing my own first time all over again through their eyes. I ran another event where I helped a grandmother make it through her last mile to the finish line when she wasn’t sure she could. On a particularly difficult last mile at another event, I ran with yet another stranger and we shared stories of loss and grief as we remembered our reasons for running. You can open your mind, empathize, learn new things, and laugh like you will never stop. You can make the new friend you never knew you needed. 

You can run alone and that is great if it’s what you truly need. But I promise you that your running life will be so much richer if you plug in to your community. You will change and evolve in this sport and these people will guide you on your way. This is going to be the most exciting part of your life as a runner and I can’t wait for you to experience it. 

Sometimes we can get deep into our own heads, but your running friends will never let you forget to find the joy. And there is so much of it everywhere. 

All the best on your adventures, and welcome to the club. 

When Rob Smith opened Vancouver Running Company in 2015, it was founded upon being good for his community. There’d be no need for a new run shop in Vancouver if it didn’t give something back to where he lived. Coming from the community in which he was an active member, he saw an opportunity to do something different: not about sales, but about soul. 

“The underlying support from Vancouver Running Company of our community doesn’t come close to ending with running—what we do has to have a community component,” says Smith, a longtime runner and marathon finisher. “It’s not just about selling a thing, and that goes for everything we do.”

Smith and the Vancouver Running Company sponsor local athletes including Rachel Cliff and Kathryn Drew, who also runs in HOKA shoes. Drew, one of the country’s finest ultra-distance runners, oscillated in Smith’s running circles and the two met at finish lines in Vancouver and Victoria. Soon, they realized they shared an ethos: running could be about more than fast times.      

“Everyone is pretty connected in our community and I love that the VanRun Co. creates events where everyone gets involved,” says Drew, mentioning the shop’s on-course support at in-person events and even group crewing on ultra-races that require a team to assist with nutrition and gear. “When in-person races were cancelled because of COVID, I began to think about how we can use running for the mental health aspects and as a way to challenge ourselves. I realized without races and my normal running structure, running was essential for my mental health.” 

COVID became the green light for lots of people to start running and this connected with Drew’s choice of running shoes: HOKA One One, which resonated with all levels of runners who click-and-collected at Smith’s store. Popular with both elites and first-timers, the democratization of running shoes—and running shoe price points—has become a rallying cry for Vancouver Running Company and its founder, Rob Smith. 

“When you put them on, they feel like a slipper, like you can run any distance, and they’re not super-flashy or trying to be everyone’s best friend. They don’t feel like they’re overly trying to impress people,” says Smith, who can’t remember how many times he’s recommended the Clifton running shoe, but knows every customer has been satisfied. He says, “I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who didn’t feel good in the Clifton. It’s a very versatile shoe.” 

“The first time I wore HOKA was in the last 60 kilometres of my race in the Western States, it felt glorious. Super plush,” says Drew, who started racing in the HOKA Torrent and now races in the HOKA Speedgoat. “HOKA is super comfortable and good for all runners—from the beginner to someone who actually goes out to win races.” 

Races seem to be trickling back in-person and across Canada and already Smith has opened his store to the community, finding other runners desperate for the connection an independent running store can provide. It’s been a difficult time, but thanks to running, and community, and quality products, the tide seems to be turning and optimism is finding a way.  

“At the shop, you can just see that people are starved for communication and a way to get out of the house and interact,” says Drew, who competes this weekend in the Western States Endurance Run and began working part-time at Vancouver Running Company. “It’s just such a supportive environment to be in and working with my colleagues and community—it feels like positive things are going to happen.” 

To learn more about Vancouver Run Co, click here.