This is an unprecedented time and we’re hurting. With the kids out of school, people losing their jobs and fear of the unknown rightly affecting all of us, a sense of helplessness can prevail. However, there are things we can do to mitigate the anxiety. Here are ten facts about the moment we’re in and things we can do—as runners—to carry on in as healthy a way as possible. These are trying times.
10. Running outdoors is OK. And you can run with your running partner.
9. Three is the number that our expert said is too many people to run with. I’ve been out running every day and haven’t seen any large groups and my group runs on Sundays have all been cancelled. I keep wanting to run with my partner, but we can’t get our schedules synched. The point is: running outdoors is OK.
8. You should continue on with your training. We know that all of our races between now and the middle of May have been postponed or cancelled. But the training, if you feel up to it, will keep your solo exercise interesting. The goal right now is sustaining your health, mental and physical.
7. A workout you might try, if curious: 2k warm up; 2 x 2k at marathon pace, with one minute of active recovery; 1k at half marathon pace, 90 seconds active recovery; 800 metres at 10k pace, 2 minute active recovery; 400 metres at 5k pace, with a 2K cool down. (This is from Eric Bang, the BlackToe Running coach, who coaches me).
6. That workout might seem crazy, which is fine. The important thing is you stay active. (It seems crazy to me; right now, if I do 10K easy, I’m good calling it a win).
5. Registration for the Ottawa Marathon and the Calgary Marathon are paused, but the races haven’t been postponed or cancelled. We are partners with both races and speak with them every day. They’re doing everything they can to hold their dates firm. But obviously the situation is (ultimately) out of their hands and will be determined by health professionals. We’ll update you the minute we can, needless to say: all of our fingers are crossed the race will go on.
4. If your gym isn’t closed, still don’t go. Gyms are breeding grounds for diseases. (Gyms have to be closed, right?)
3. Virtual races will start Monday on Sportstats, in collaboration with races that have been cancelled and include participation from our favourite elites like Reid Coolsaet, Lanni Marchant and Krista DuChene. They will be free. Still, that doesn’t mean you should race in a group. It is essential that everyone understands this: virtual races still require social distancing.
2. Walkers, and folks battling injury – we’re here for you, too! Just keep getting out there and do what you can. Look, your goal is probably cancelled. Right now, at least for me, iRun for mental health.
1. We will get through this. This is an unprecedented moment in human history, but we’re working together and there are (small) signs of improvement. This will end and life will resume and we, runners, will having running to be thankful for in helping us get through this harrowing moment.
Godspeed.
ps: up top is a picture of Dayna Pidhoresky. I don’t know, it just makes me feel good. Courtesy of Canada Running Series.
You can – and should – still run during the pandemic, with the right precautions.
While we should all heed the health community and government’s precautions amid the current coronavirus outbreak, thankfully, that doesn’t mean you have to stop running. In fact, you may want to lace up now more than ever, given running’s myriad benefits to your physical and mental health.
Sure, you may be bummed that your spring race got cancelled due to COVID-19. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t run outdoors, even in small groups, according to Dr. Sara Pickersgill, a physician in the emergency department at St Joseph’s Health Centre in Toronto.
“Running and outdoor pursuits are critical right now, for mental health as much as anything. I would say run alone, or with somebody in your household. No more group runs over three people.” Pickersgill says.
Dr. Pickersgill also recommends washing your hands with soap and warm water before and after your run, coughing or sneezing into your elbow and avoid sharing your water bottle with others.
Running’s Benefits Outweigh the Risks
It may seem counter intuitive, what with the barrage of alarming news headlines everywhere on cable tv, news websites and social media channels, particularly in the past few days. Yet, in fact, by following these common-sense precautions, the benefits of running during the outbreak far outweigh the current risk of contracting COVID-19. According to the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, even running at a slow-to-moderate pace for around 5-15 minutes a day significantly reduces your risk of heart disease. All the more relevant right now, many studies also reveal that moderately-paced running over shorter distances builds your immunity, and thus, lowers your risk of infection and respiratory illness.
“Running and outdoor pursuits are critical right now, for mental health as much as anything. I would say run alone, or with somebody in your household. No more group runs over three people.”
Dr. Sara Pickersgill, emergency room physician, St Joseph’s Health Centre in Toronto
The message: Just don’t overdo it, and keep your running crew small.
The Coronavirus outbreak also poses an existential threat that feels beyond our control, increasing our mental distress; something that’s harder to gauge on a monitor. Yet, ever wonder why the world doesn’t seem like quite such a threatening place after going for a run? That’s because running, along with other cardiovascular-based activities, including biking, swimming – even shooting hoops in your basketball net in the driveway – can significantly boost your psychological well being.
According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, doctors now regularly prescribe physical exercise as often as they do medication for conditions such as anxiety and depression. Running stimulates the release of endorphins: chemicals in your brain associated with relieving pain, boosting your immune system and that feeling of contentment you feel over post-run coffee with friends. Ever feel like most of your ‘a-ha’ moments hit you while out for a run? An insight into how to tackle some challenge on the work or home front? You can thank the elevated endorphins running produces for that, too.
Yet, at a fundamental level, simply being around and connecting with people is what makes us human, and therefore healthier and happier. Indeed, the Coronavirus outbreak poses a threat to our well-being. However, you can still run with your mates as long as you exercise caution.
This Mu Shu Turkey recipe puts a healthier spin on the traditional Asian dish that features pork, but with all the familiar flavours you’ll love. Mix up the filling, then set out lettuce leaves and let everyone make their own wraps.
INGREDIENTS 1 tbsp (15 mL) oil
1 clove garlic, minced
2 green onions, chopped
1 lb (454 g) ground Ontario turkey
1 cup (250 mL) mushrooms, sliced
1 cup (250 mL) bok-choy, chopped
1/2 cup (125 mL) water chestnuts, sliced
1/2 cup (125 mL) red pepper, thinly sliced
1 cup (250 mL) napa cabbage, chopped
1/4 cup (50 mL) hoisin sauce
1 tbsp (15 mL) soy sauce
2 tsp (10 mL) sesame oil
1 tsp (5 mL) Asian five spice powder
12 whole lettuce leaves, washed and dried
*extra hoisin sauce for wrappers
DIRECTIONS ONE: In a large pan set at medium, heat oil. Add garlic and green onions and sauté for 3 minutes. Add turkey and cook until turkey is cooked fully and starting to brown. Add mushrooms and bok-choy, water chestnuts and red pepper. Continue to cook until vegetables are tender.
TWO: Add remaining ingredients (except lettuce), mixing until well combined and sauté until napa cabbage is wilted and mixture is heated through.
THREE: To serve, set out a platter of lettuce leaves and bowl of mu shu turkey and extra hoisin sauce. Let everyone spoon the mu shu turkey mixture and hoisin sauce into lettuce leaves and roll.
By reading this, I hope you, the reader-runner, can better understand why and how your favourite races are making decisions. Moreover, I am hopeful our industry can recover from this global health crisis and be stronger than ever. Thank you for reading, keep running and be well.
If you have been running for any length of time, you have probably suffered an injury.
What is happening now to the global race industry is the equivalent of having a myriad of injuries, including ITBS (IT band syndrome), paired with a stress fracture; compounded by a recovering runner’s knee, because many races have been hurting from declining participants numbers for a few years now. Unfortunately, the prognosis is grim. Some of your favourite races are crippled and will never run again.
Kirsten at the start line of the 2015 Calgary Marathon.
Race Directing is a stressful business to begin with. Compounded by the uncertainty of the current situation and the onslaught of questions, many of which we don’t yet have answers for, has made for an impossible few weeks if you’re in the event management industry. I now speculate full time for a living. If this, then that… over and over and over again. Nothing is certain. And race organizers are trying to predict every possible outcome, then backing out each scenario to understand what we can do now, to positively affect the results later. We are not unique in this situation, as we know many industries are hurting in a terrible way.
The race directing community is really just a niche within the larger community of runners since most of us got into this business because we have a passion for running. In fact, we come together often to help at our events, to celebrate one another and to share best practices both informally and formally at conferences. Just like you, we even go on runcations together.
November 10, 2019 Race Directors (Charlotte Brookes (Canada Running Series) Kirsten Fleming (Run Calgary) Maureen MacDonald (Run Calgary) Rachel Munday (Manitoba Manitoba) Jackie Cooney (Run Calgary) Steph Symington (Run Calgary) Holly Bird (Run Calgary) Stacey Embretson (LA Marathon) Sherri Robbins (Blue Nose Marathon) Rachel Fetherstonhaugh (Race Roster) in San Diego to race the inaugural San Diego lululemon 10K
IN THIS TOGETHER
I am incredibly grateful for the guidance, mentorship and friendship of the people behind the races you run and love, more now than ever.
We were not prepared for the intense and devastating disruption a global health crisis would create. Was anyone? RDs have been monitoring the COVID-19 crisis through the lens of what races are doing since February 17th when Tokyo Marathon limited its field to elites and wheelchairs. That was 1 month ago.
Many of us hoped there would be some sort of solution or that the virus wouldn’t spread in North America to the extent it has in other countries. We also held out for the spring season to be salvaged and began collaborating on increased health measures to reduce exposure and risk to our volunteers and participants. Last week there was much optimism perhaps April and lat least May events would be safe to hold. As the severity of COVID-19 took hold around the world, things began changing by the hour, as governments try every tactic they can to contain the virus. I am certain by the time you read this even more restrictions will be introduced.
Postponement announcements quickly followed the Tokyo Marathon. First by the Paris Half-Marathon (March 2) and Rome Marathon (March 5) and eventually the New York City Half Marathon (March 9). By then, Run Calgary was holding internal and external daily briefings with city partners and sponsors, as well as sharing ideas and updates in industry group chats and email exchanges, some with upwards of 40 race directors. Many of these threads batted around emergency preparedness and mitigating risks to participants, our organizations and the industry at large. It always circled back to “what if” (and eventually) “when we have to postpone and or cancel.” As of this writing, that list of races had more than 300 races around the globe in the half-marathons and longer distances that have cancelled or postponed. That doesn’t include the thousands of smaller fun runs, 5k and 10k races and charity events.
Rescheduling an event, especially large road races, to a later date is complex and requires many stakeholders to sign off. We (I mean every race director from Blue Nose Marathon to Boston) are all working tirelessly with our many stakeholders (sponsors, municipalities and private venues where we hold our races such as stadiums and community centres) to find alternative dates. In some cases, it’s just not possible. Circumstances might include: no available weekends or emergency services can’t commit the resources or there are other events on the calendar that would be compromised. For international events (such as BMO Vancouver Marathon) rescheduling for a later date (when we don’t even know what the future holds and when “things willget back to normal”) doesn’t service participants who have hotel and flights booked EVEN if venues were available and the city on board with a new date.
I have been watching from the sidelines silently as devastated race organizers, forced to cancel and postpone are being harassed and vilified online. Many runners are showing compassion and empathy to the tough decisions we are having to make. But a small, loud and mighty minority are lambasting RDs for enforcing existing policies that will prevent their organizations from going bankrupt.
Ultra-legend and RD, John Lacroix (Sherpa John) of Human Potential Running out of Colorado wrote a spot-on blog in response to how his friends at Mad Moose Events were being treated and the challenges RDs are facing. He wrote in part, “It’s not just that runners were asking for refunds, it’s that runners were treating these good people so poorly that they felt a need to ask you to be kind. I support the Ricks and Mad Moose, and I am appalled by the behavior of the entitled. THIS IS NOT OUR SPORT…WE ARE BETTER THAN THIS. No RD should have to ask you to be kind to them when they’re the ones in the trenches facing the adversity.”
Adversity is what our friends at Run Van are doing their best to overcome. First, the province banned gatherings over 250 into May, forcing them to cancel. Then the backlash started. I watched it play out online, realizing I couldn’t keep quiet any longer. The future of our industry relies on it.
This is a deep dive on what race directors all over the world are going through right now. Our written statements to our respective communities basically all say the same thing. However, these short statements presenting alternative solutions (I will outline some and explain more below – stay with me) clearly aren’t conveying what will happen to your races if we were to refund your registration fee.
Let’s talk about the no refund policy and where race registration fees go.
As someone who regularly participated in running events before I was a RD, I had no comprehension of the financial and personnel resources it takes to put on a race, until I worked in the race industry.
Michelle La Sala, owner of the small business and race organization Blistering Pace Race Management (California) wrote an update on her business Facebook profile that reads in part, “Everyone is trying their best and trying to make the most sensible decisions for the runner and for their company. By the time a race rolls around, there are so many sunk costs that have already been spent – shirts, medals, permits, venue fees, water, nutrition, awards, etc. Not to mention a lot of registration platforms have return fees so refunding everyone would cost more than the money they took at face value. I am just trying to provide a (very initial) look behind the scenes, but please believe me when I say that someone who has had to cancel their race and is only offering a cancellation with no refunds or deferment options is not taking your money and running.”
There seems to be a myth, races are making massive profits. I assure we are not. Run Calgary is a not-for-profit, which means we budget on a good year to have a small surplus (for times like this!) and on a bad year (for example a cold Canadian winter keeps people from training and signing up) to break even. When we land in the black (we don’t know where revenue will land as it correlates to how many runners sign up) we pump excess dollars back into the event to try new things (50K relay! The Roundup! A new event!) to make the guest experience even better next year.
Banks do not own races. Many banks (including the title sponsor for Calgary Marathon) generously invest in the community by sponsoring events. Small independent and family-owned businesses and not-for-profits operate the majority of your races. Both types of organizations rely primarily on revenue from registration to pay for all goods and services to put on a race. These revenues are supplemented by generous partners that sponsor events, some with cash and/or some with goods that offset costs we might incur. Nuun generously provides Run Calgary with product for runners we would otherwise have to purchase, and they are a Run Calgary series sponsor.
Line items you will see in every race budget from a 300-person race to a 30,000 person race include: bibs, medals, swag, venue rentals, food, equipment, permits, insurance, volunteers (yes, we support them with donations, food, shirts!), etc.
Service line items include both event and year-round staff, police, timing, medical, fencing rental and labour, AV, warehouse storage and office space, technology etc.
Goods are ordered in many cases nine months to a year out, as is the case with service contracts and venue rentals, all of which require non-refundable deposits. The race might be one or two days, but it takes a year to plan and financial commitments are being made with your registration fees in good faith. It’s not just races that will have come back from this crisis, the people who own timing and registration companies and many other supporting vendors will suffer from this unprecedented cancellation of events.
For those races that cannot reschedule, race directors are getting creative with solutions. Let’s get into some of what we are seeing.
VIRTUAL RUNS
Converting to a virtual event ensures registrants can take their victory lap on their own time alone or with a small group of friends and still receive their swag and medal. There is both a financial and time investment from race directors to pivot to this model – the larger the event, the bigger the cost and more staff time it will take to fulfill.
For context, Run Calgary launched a Christmas virtual race which sold out at 300 people and we had 60% of our virtual participants pick up their packages from our office (not an option during a pandemic for obvious reasons) and it still took 75 staff hours to plan, execute and fulfill at the average cost of $11 CAD a package mailing within Canada. Imagine moving a 10,000-person race to this model, when we can’t invite people to pick up at our office. Run Calgary was already excited about how virtual races are contributing to the run community. And now it turns out they are a perfect way to ride out a public health crisis, if you are healthy and can still run. Virtual high fives to the race directors working on virtual events and the incredible partners like Race Roster (registration company) and Sportstats (timing company) that are turning around fast technological solutions to support races and participants who are also excited about this option.
Next let’s talk about deferring your registration fee to next year, which is essentially refunding. It hits hard because we have already paid the direct runner costs and overhead for this year and those 2020 swag items can’t be carried over (neither can most hard costs) and we still have to purchase new goods for next year without the 2021 registration fee. I can’t speak for other events, however on a normal year when you are injured and you ask Run Calgary to defer, we are happy to help. It is not an unreasonable request and we make this exception all of the time. But it’s race organizations that are injured this time.
Deferring everyone to next year or offering deferment over three years like Monterey Bay Half Marathon did in 2018 when they were forced to cancel because of the California wildfires, moves the problem and creates cash flow uncertainty next year, or in the case of Monterey Bay, losses over 3 years. This non-profit race, with more than 7,500 paid entries, had to absorb more than $600,000 USD in lost entry fees as most runners chose to defer to their 2019 race. They also provided more than $125,000 USD donation to victims of the fire, as directed by more than 1,600 entrants who chose this option over deferral.
We have seen few races offer refunds. Those that have are taking the hit and have enough savings or they are relying on lines of credits. Event Cancellation Insurance (if the race is cancelled, insurance pays out the refunds to participants) does NOT cover COVID – 19. And even if it did, few races can afford that coverage. Run Calgary was quoted $11,500 CAD for partial coverage for 1 of our 7 annual races. And again, this pandemic would not have been covered, because event cancellation insurance, like many of your home and car policies, has strict exclusions. This is a cost most races would have to pass on to our guests. The same guests who are telling us through survey feedback and showing us through a decline in numbers, that they are cost conscious and won’t pay more.
Most races will come back from the damage of COVID-19 just like most people who catch it will. But not all. And because we don’t know when it will be safe for races to resume (we are making huge assumptions by moving events to the fall) and there is little historical data to determine thresholds for loss and long-term affects to the confidence in the industry, we don’t yet know how bad it will get and how hard the bottom line will be hit. I am asking you, our run community, to be kind and patient with race directors and to understand we are not stealing from you by not refunding. We are doing the best we can under these trying circumstances. No one wants the show to go on more than us. While you’re pounding the pavement in preparation and marking down the days until your big day, we too are spending our time planning in anticipation. Let’s get through these uncertain times with compassion. We can still run, support one another and wait for sunnier race days ahead.
For those in our run community at the top, there is so much more at stake. Dozens of Canadian elites are looking to qualify before the May 31st deadline for an Olympic Games we don’t know will happen. My heart breaks for them. It also breaks at the thought of not hosting the Calgary Marathon on Sunday May 31st and letting our community down by not offering satisfying alternatives.
I am getting through these stressful, strange times with the support of other race directors, sponsors, partners and the many runners who are showing compassion and understanding despite their own disappointments. We are all working together to learn from this, come back from it stronger and to ensure the sustainability and longevity of our industry. And I will also get through this by going for a run.
Happy running and until we meet again
Kirsten Fleming, Executive Director Run Calgary and Calgary Marathon
With the support of many of her peers in the industry who graciously contributed to this letter.
So I’ll go back to my last post, which I wrote shortly after racing the Robbie Burns 8 km in 28:12 on January 19 when I was just getting into a new rhythm with Reid Coolsaet as my new coach. Life included a good balance of training, coaching my daughter’s hockey team, volunteering at our kids’ school, speaking at a few special events, working part-time as Registered Dietitian, and keeping up with the kids’ growing list of activities. It was, and continued to be, a relatively mild winter. It didn’t take nearly as long to log the kilometers as in previous winters. Most training weeks included an average of 180 km with 8 runs in 6 days, and 1 complete rest day, with down weeks of around 150 km. As I’ve done in the last 3 years, I was periodizing my diet with fasted, low-glycogen, and specifically fuelled runs. And I was really starting to feel the difference with Reid’s new plan, specifically the increased power in my core and legs, which I attributed to the new and more deliberate strength-training and core routines. I was also regularly doing drills and strides for the first time in my running career.
I didn’t race in February, which is fairly common for me as March often has several good racing opportunities, and racing conditions can be quite poor in mid-winter. This year I would do the Burlington Chilly Half as a workout with 2 km hard and 1 km moderate. I would save the racing for the New York City Half Marathon, two weeks later. It was a perfect day on March 1 in Burlington with my favourite winter running weather of sunny skies and crisp air. I set out to tackle this event alone as those around me would be aiming for consistent km splits. At the beginning, it was difficult to slow down to the moderate pace of 1km@3:50/km and in the end, I was working hard to hit the 2km@3:30/km. I explained to a few groups of men along the way what I was doing so that I didn’t mess with their pacing. I got the job done, clocking 1:16:20 (3:36/km) with an average of 15 km @ 3:31/km and 6 km @ 3:48/km. Two more solid weeks of training and I would be able to test and gain more fitness in New York City in preparation for my 20th marathon on April 20, 2020 in Boston. I would be wearing the new Endorphin Pro carbon fibre plated shoes, designed by Olympian Jared Ward with other Saucony team members, and worn by Molly Seidel at the recent Olympic trials where she secured her spot on the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games team. The USA trials was her debut marathon!
I was looking forward to continuing to aim for a pace in the low 3:30’s/km while gaining confidence with the execution of road workouts and moderately paced hilly runs. Reid’s plan seemed to be perfect with a 9 day cycle, allowing for 2 recovery days between workouts, and a balanced rotation of quality sessions (intervals, hill repeats, hilly runs with moderate pacing, long runs, tempos). I was hitting more solid workouts on the road, and still including the treadmill but relying on it less than in the past. I’ve always been able to gain a really good amount of fitness while staying healthy and injury-free in the final training phase, and I was quite looking forward to it. It was going to be tough to meet the standard of top 10 in Boston in order to be on the list with Canadians, Dayna Pidhoresky (guaranteed spot with her 2:29:03 and top Canadian at Canada’s trials at the 2019 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon), Malindi Elmore (2:24:50, Houston 2020), Rachel Cliff (2:26:56, Nagoya 2019), and Lyndsay Tessier (9th, 2019 World Championship). The Canadian men’s side is entirely different with only Trevor Hoffbauer’s secured sport. But I wanted to be eligible for another Olympic team, earn a decent income to help financially support my family, and stay competitive at the international level for future consideration of other world marathon majors. With my completion of London, Berlin and Boston, I only have Tokyo, New York City, and Chicago left.
Then it all changed.
The “what if” became a matter of “when.” The list of cancellations, closures, and postponements filled the news within a matter of a few days as COVID-19 was officially declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. It would be the first pandemic since the H1N1 in 2009.
Appropriately so, our calendars became completely empty in order to help control the spread. The news included constant updates on the severity of the virus and number of new cases in Canada and around the world. Social media informed us about the need for social distancing and diligent hand-washing, the hoarding of toilet paper and hand sanitizer, and how to flatten the curve and homeschool your children. As an extrovert, a three week pause on life would be a big change. In the summer, when I tend to change to an introvert to recharge and relax at our cabin, it would have been no problem. March, often being my busiest but perhaps most enjoyable month of the year, was an entirely different thing.
Friday was a scheduled rest day from training anyway so I took it easy, treated myself to a post-season pecan square from Sweet Bakery, and started thinking about how life would look. We’re now only a few days into a three (or more) week hold on life and while our family certainly hasn’t succeeded in moderating screen time we have spent more time outdoors, enjoyed more meals together, watched a few videos together, looked through some photo albums, baked, and discussed possible ideas for our new routine.
On Saturday morning I enjoyed my run with good friends, Dale and Clayton, logging a few more kilometres than planned but I savoured the social time and easy pace, and enjoyed the scenic country route and coffee together afterward, while keeping an appropriate distance from each other. As Sunday was to be a race (I had actually planned to do the Achilles St. Patrick’s Day 10 km in Toronto, as a replacement for NYC, before it too was cancelled), Reid turned it into a workout after explaining to myself and his other athletes that we’d scale back training while still maintaining fitness.
I tried to make my 10 km a virtual race but didn’t get it figured out in time so I just used it as a time trial, a race against myself. I think we will start to see more of these virtual races in order to feel connected and like we have some purpose to our training.
In the morning I went through my normal race day routine of getting up early, having a bagel with honey and 2 cups of coffee, braiding my hair, making my Eload recovery drink, warming up with a few strides, wearing my newest Smith sunglasses, and stripping down to my shorts and long compression socks. I even laced up the new Saucony Endorphin Pro shoes that sat in my carry-on for New York. Reid suggested I add 3-6 km after my 10 km effort so I completed just over three laps of a 3 km loop with a time of 35:49 for 10 km (3:35/km), followed by an easy 1 km, 3 km on the track at 3:32/km, another easy 1 km, and 2 km on the track at 3:33/km. It was a touch windy but the sun was out and I thoroughly appreciated the ability to move my legs around and around, “racing” or not. I ended up running 21.1 km afterall and got home just in time to watch church on-line with my family, while completing some core work, stretching, and doing other preventative maintenance exercises. We’ve had another lazy day and I’m starting to look more closely at the homeschooling resources and sample routines (please, send help!) as I keep a mindset of a healthy not an unhealthy fear amidst this pandemic. Isaiah 41:10 says, “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand”.
As gyms and other training facilities are closed and there are no races in the near future, we can be thankful for roads, tracks, trails, home gyms, and springtime weather. And of course, Strava. It is far better to be able to run but not race than to not be able to run at all. We’ve all been there with injury and illness – it is not fun.
Although we must keep our physical distance, we can stay connected in other ways.
As for what’s next, there is certainly now an abundance of fall marathons from which to choose. I have until March 30 to notify the Boston Marathon if I would like to participate in the new date of September 14. What we missed this spring will definitely make for an exciting fall. After doubling up successfully in 2019 (Boston and Ottawa), I can see myself running two fall 2020 marathons. As for the Tokyo Olympics, I am truly hoping that it will not be cancelled. I would be absolutely gutted for all of the athletes who anticipated competing there this summer.
As I sit typing at the window, watching my husband and kids playing basketball in the driveway, I am once again reminded to be grateful for the simple things of life. That 20th marathon can wait. For now, we have some granola and monster cookies to bake.
We’ll talk to the new race director of the very popular Canada Army Run. We’ll meet a runner who has every single training run for three months mapped out on a giant chalkboard. And a mom who is going to race next month with her daughters.
Michelle races the 3000m at the World Masters Athletics Championships in Poland in 2019.
In 2016, I asked Michelle Clarke if she was willing to take me on as an athlete. Four years later, there are a few ways to measure the success of our partnership. We could count the PBs I’ve run based on Michelle’s plans. We could consider the time I’ve shaved off at each distance, and it’s certainly more than I could have guessed I was capable of.
But I count my greatest success working with Michelle to be an amalgam of outcomes. I have never suffered a major injury. I have never felt overly exhausted. I have never been completely tired of running or considered quitting this hotly pursued hobby altogether. In fact, I’ve only become more enthusiastic and excited over time.
As runners, when we choose a coach, we entrust our safety to someone and give over a certain control over our physical and mental health. In my case, I couldn’t have made a better choice when it came to someone who would view our relationship as being about more than just running.
The Long Run
Our relationship began with a questionnaire, one of which was something along the lines of “What’s your long term goal as a runner?” My response, as best I can recall was, “I want to be able to do this forever.”
If I miss the splits on a track workout or tempo run, it’s never simply a matter of going back until I nail them. I explain to Michelle that I didn’t hit certain numbers and offer any possible explanation as to why that might have been (e.g. additional stress from career, family, etc.; coming down with a minor illness; or the conditions making it too difficult). Perhaps, I’m just not capable of hitting those numbers yet and that’s not something I should feel terrible about.
The following week, if my coach feels that another push would be my breaking point, the training plan is relaxed. Early on, this approach didn’t quite gel with my mindset that backing off intensity was the same as giving up.
With Michelle, it’s always about understanding what my body can give at any time and working within that. If a goal needs to be adjusted, that’s made clear in my training plan and I’m never made to feel guilty about it. No PB has ever been worth an injury or burnout. It doesn’t take much to break an athlete, even just a little fatigue sustained over time blows up.
People are not very good at underestimating the level of stress they put on themselves. I’ve found a few runners guilty of considering the stress they take on from day to day life as entirely separate from that which comes from any kind of performance-based training.
Your body doesn’t know or care if you’ve had deadlines or had to travel for work or if a family member is sick or if you’re just amping up the mileage. Your body only knows stress and it will get angry if its calls for adjustment aren’t heeded. It takes a special coach to understand that and find the balance in a training plan that allows for growth while protecting the athlete’s safety.
To give myself some credit, I listen to what Michelle says. I try my best not to be a stubborn athlete who just can’t seem to follow a coach’s plan. In return for the respect and autonomy Michelle gives me in deciding how much I can commit and what my goals are, I respect her knowledge.
Life Coach
No athlete is one dimensional or defined solely by their pursuits on the road, track, trail, or anywhere else. With the incredible amount of time we give over to training, it becomes part of our lives and our whole being. It can’t be isolated. Therefore, no coach is only coaching for performance.
When I took a trip to the emergency room several months back, Michelle was aware of it before my parents and, naturally, ordered a strict period of rest. The attitude of #nodaysoff, one of my most despised hashtags, has never been present in my relationship with Michelle.
The same goes for general fatigue. Progress has never been forced with Michelle. Rather, our work together has preserved as best as possible the conditions in which progress can take place. Some may find it counter intuitive, but that means lulls in intensity from time to time.
Much of my communication with Michelle covers those additional life stresses and how my obligations for the week are shaping up. Michelle probably knows me as well as anyone. Our conversations often cover a million other topics (music, literature, career, family, romantic life, etc.) before we ever get to running. Running is always built around the other dimensions of my life so they can complement each other rather than wage war with my health as their battlefield.
Running is meant to bring richness and enjoyment to life. It’s meant to augment and support personal growth and build confidence. If running isn’t feeding those processes, then there’s no reason to be doing it. And in running, race results are not the only indicator of growth. And growth sometimes means backing down.
Listening to Michelle has allowed me to grasp this complex truth and made me a better runner and person.
Virtual races are becoming essential as the race calendar gets erased by the Coronavirus. While we can’t all gather for our goal races, which hurts but we understand, we can continue to honour our training and race our goal distances: we just have to do it online. Sportstats is currently working with their partners to hold virtual events across the country.
“In these days and times when everything is being cancelled and everybody continues to run on their own or in little groups, virtual races are fantastic because we have something they can be rewarded with—racers can still earn medals, record their times and get virtual cheers from our running community,” says Kelly Arnott, founder of VR Pro and Canada’s virtual race leader, who has hosted more than 5,000 virtual runners at her events. “Virtual runs are a solution to keep runners running—and, importantly, racing. As a community, runners are great about coming together and running, despite these crazy times.”
Arnott first put together a virtual race in 2019 and saw a need for Canadians to participate across the country. She says the key to running a successful virtual event is to get the word out, reward participants, and celebrate their results with postings and photographs and typical race day accoutrements custom-made for sharing online.
“The show must go on and it must go on for our athletes—we can’t give up and we must, as a community, reward runners for their training with a great virtual event that celebrates their hard work,” says Arnott, who’s currently in the midst of planning several virtual events right now. She’s hosted a team of 160 virtual racers from New Brunswick at her Santa event in Burlington, Ontario, and says that the Running Room also helped her bring in virtual participants from across the country. With the success of new technologies like Peloton and Zwift in cycling, athletes are already primed for virtual competitions. Meanwhile, a racer in Vancouver reached out to Cam Levins and Emily Setlack, athletes hoping to compete at the cancelled Rotterdam Marathon with a time fast enough to qualify for the Olympics (although, at this point, it’s anyone’s guess it the Games will even be held), with a time trial here in Canada. Sportstats has agreed to host such an event and is also working with their partners on getting more virtual races arranged. They’re even working on making virtual finish lines (like pictured above, with Sportstats CEO Marc Roy).
So, while the race calendar seems to be changing every moment, with the Vancouver Sun Run, Around the Bay, the Boston Marathon—among many others—being forced to cancel, postpone or otherwise alter their events, there are other things we can do.
Race directors, of course, who spend all year in preparation of their one big day, are obviously besides themselves with these unforeseen circumstances and looking to do everything in their power to help runners celebrate their hours of long runs, speed work and time in their shoes.
“We’ve never seen anything like this before, but runners are a staunch group of determined individuals and I think we’ll come together and find ways to keep racing,” says Arnott. “All of the hard work we’ve done in our training will get tested this spring—that test, however, might just have be virtual and celebrated online.”
A lot has changed in the last few days regarding the way society is adapting to the spread of Covid-19. Most of the races that we were wondering about have been cancelled or postponed, including the big one, Boston.
The first thing I said to my athletes is that you can simultaneously be pissed off that your goal race has been cancelled and that you agree that cancelling the event is the best course of action. Yes, it sucks that you won’t be racing after months of training, but you fully endorse the cancellation of that race. (I’ve seen too many Tweets that suggest you should pick one view or the other).
My training advice to my athletes has changed in the last 48 hours. A few days ago it was to train for the event in the hopes that it would go ahead. Now it seems it’s just a matter of days before all major April marathons officially announce cancellation or postponement. My new advice is to back-off full marathon volume/intensity (which isn’t usually sustainable for longer than 16 weeks) and shift training to a level that will reduce risk to injury and leave room to peak for a new date. If a race such as Ottawa marathon (May 24th) looks as though it will go ahead by early April you’ll be able to resume marathon training very quickly having some early marathon work and enough training in the interim.
I don’t like uncertainty and if it wasn’t for trying to qualify for my last Olympics (at 40 I’m not holding out hope for 2024) I would simply shift my focus to a 10km in late May or June and then pick a fall marathon. (There will be a lot more fall marathons this year!) Training for a 10km isn’t as time-consuming and if those events do end up getting cancelled you’ve still put in training that will help with future races at any distance from Mile to Marathon (Dylan, I’ll invoice you for that plug).
Back to the Olympics… seeing as I need a qualifying time I’m still, delusionally, holding out hope that May marathons might still go ahead as planned. If that’s not the case it would be great if Athletics Canada could set up a small race for those athletes within striking distance of the Olympic standard (yes, I realize this is self-serving). In my head this would be run on a 5-7km loop and it would at least give athletes a shot at qualifying.
It’s completely understandable why race organizers are cancelling their Spring events. If they were to go ahead with a race and there ended up being more Corona cases in that city they could lose goodwill with the residents. These races often have to battle for road closures and such and they shouldn’t risk the viability of future races for one event this Spring. Most importantly it’s irresponsible to congregate masses of people when there is serious risk to much of the population if they contract Corona. If there is a spike in Corona cases our healthcare system could easily get overwhelmed.
Let’s be thankful that our choice of exercise can be enjoyed in self-isolation and you can still get kudos on Strava.
By Krista DuChene, The 4th Fastest Woman of All Time & Mother of 3.
What do you get when you race a marathon in 2020 after competing in the 1500m at the 2004 Olympic Games and Ironman Triathlons in 2016 and 2017? Did I mention giving birth in 2014 and 2018? In the case of Malindi Elmore, how about a Canadian record of 2:24:50 and a really good chance to return to another Olympic Games?
Malindi Elmore’s Canadian record performance at the Houston Marathon on January 19, 2020—the fastest marathon time ever run by a Canadian woman—was also a third place finish and in no way a surprise for those of us who know what she can do. She already had an outstanding athletic background with incredible potential to do even more—if she chose to. And we’re glad she did.
Elmore, a native of Kelowna, British Columbia, debuted in the marathon as a single event at the 2019 Houston Marathon with a 2:32:11, while her breast-fed six-month-old infant waited for her—I’m guessing rather impatiently—at the finish line. Elmore’s husband and coach, Graham Hood, also a 1500m Olympian (1992 and 1996), travelled with her to the race, where she wasn’t even entered as an elite. She had to carry her own gels and use the fluid provided by the event, rather than being able to use her own bottles like the rest of her competition.“In the two weeks leading into the race, my training started to click and I started to have some breakthroughs in my workouts. I would try to slow down to ‘goal pace,’ but I just couldn’t help running faster than I was supposed to,” Elmore says. “We knew at that point that my 2:40 goal was no longer realistic and we needed to be planning on sub-2:35 pacing. Feeling comfortable running 2:32 showed me I had a lot of room to improve. I thought at this point that the 2:29:30 Olympic standard was quite reasonable and my goal for the following race was to see how far below it I could go.”
Malindi Elmore, fastest Canadian female marathoner ever, laces up
How It All Came To Be
Looking back to her track days, Elmore set an impressive personal best time of 4:02.64 in 2004 in the 1500m, making her the sixth fastest Canadian woman of all time. In her debut Ironman in 2016, she clocked an outstanding 8:57, making her the fourth fastest Canadian ever at that distance. Perhaps it should be noted that an Ironman Triathlon includes a 3.86K swim, a 180.25K bike, and a 42.2K run. According to Wikipedia, it is “widely considered one of the most difficult one-day sporting events in the world.”
No wonder Elmore felt that stepping down to marathon training was less taxing, leaving her with more time and energy to give to her family, coaching, volunteering and other commitments. Malindi’s personal bests in other events are equally impressive. She holds a 1:11:07 in the half marathon (Winnipeg, 2019), a 32:44 in the 10K (Vancouver, 2019), and a 15:12 in the 5K (Mt. SAC, 2007). In a two-year time frame (2015–2017), she successfully completed two Olympic distance triathlons, twelve half Ironman triathlons and two Ironman triathlons. Many of them were podium finishes, celebrated with her firstborn held on her hip at the awards ceremonies.
“I love being an athlete and a mom and find good balance in both,” Elmore says. “I try to ‘stay in the moment’ when I am with my kids or training, and find that being a good athlete helps me be a good mom and vice versa. I have always wanted kids, so it also makes me feel more at peace now that I am at a place in my life where I am 100% content. I wouldn’t change a thing about it.”
Nothing Good Comes Easy
While earning these and many other accolades over her 20+ year career, racing wasn’t entirely without disappointment and setbacks. In 2008, she and Hilary Stellingwerff, with whom she trained and raced, both missed the Olympics during a time when many athletes in their field were later suspended for doping. Although she had the IAAF (now World Athletics) standard, she was 0.07 seconds off the inflated Canadian “A+” standard to assure her selection to the Canadian team. After winning the Olympic trials in Calgary in 2012, Malindi failed to achieve the Olympic standard by less than a second—and it was at this point that she stepped away from the sport for what she considered to be a permanent decision.
Malindi Elmore
“After not making the 2008 or 2012 Olympics, I felt like I needed to focus on other aspects of my life. I was really low and knew that I needed to put my energy into family and career at that point,” she says. “I also changed my perspective from my life revolving around my sport to my sport fitting into my life. I put less pressure on myself now, although I still hold myself to high expectations. It allows me to better balance mentally, physically, emotionally.”
After a seven-year hiatus, Malindi hoped to run the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in October 2019, with her eye on running below the Olympic standard of 2:29:30; however, while on an easy run during her taper, she tweaked her hamstring and was forced to withdraw from the race. She took the necessary time for the injury to heal and resumed training, later completing some stunning workouts in early 2020 that some of her Strava followers—like myself—were very impressed to see. When she returned to race the 2020 Houston Marathon, she had her husband cheering for her again as well several Canadian women competing in the half marathon. When she crossed the finish, now the fastest Canadian female marathon runner of all time, it was a moment she’d been working towards her entire career.
“It is surreal to think I am the Canadian record holder, and that at 40 years old have a good shot of being at the summer Olympics,” Elmore says. “I felt so overjoyed and emotional. It was also so special to share the moment with my husband, who not only coached me for the last year, but has been my biggest supporter for the last 16 years since we met.”
It was a thrilling morning for those at the race, of course, and the rest of us following coverage at home, because not only did Elmore set a Canadian record, but so did Natasha Wodak, running a 1:09:41 in the half marathon. Both Canadian records had been held by Vancouver’s Rachel Cliff, who was also racing the Houston Half Marathon that morning in preparation for the Tokyo Marathon (February 29).
Two weeks later, Andrea Secaffian went on to lower the record in the half marathon with a 1:09:38, further adding to the depth of talent and excitement amongst Canadian women distance runners.
“To be a part of the renewal of Canadian running is so important to me. I think the legacy of Canadian women goes back so many years—Lynn Kanuka, Angela Chalmers, Leah Pells, Megan Metcalfe and many more were all my role models,” she says. “And my track contemporaries back in the early 2000s—Carmen Douma, Courtney Babcock, Hilary Stellingwerff, Diane Cummins—they all played a role in where we are today as trail blazers and role models. I feel honoured to have been part of a few generations and find that I draw so much inspiration from those who came before me and those who are now rising to the top.”
So what brought this World University Games, Commonwealth Games, Pan American Games, World Championships and Olympic Games athlete back to running after retiring in 2012? Elmore says she simply has a deep love and joy for the sport, its simplicity and strong community. With a modest and manageable training plan averaging 145–160K per week and two young boys at home, she felt more relaxed, committed with flexibility and grateful for her strong support team to help her achieve her new goals. The six-time Canadian champion, six-time All American from Stanford University and 2017 inductee in the Central Okanagan Sports Hall of Fame once again put drive to her dreams, but without pressure or having anything to prove. She could embrace her love with passion once again.
The Future Looks Bright
As a mom of three who competed at the age of 39 at the 2016 Olympic Games, I am excited to think that Canada will likely have a mom of two who will compete at the age of 40 at the 2020 Olympic Games—16 years after her Olympic debut. And I’m incredibly honoured that Malindi has included me in her list of those who inspired her return. I only met her for the first time in person in 2019, briefly over lunch at a table shared with other Canadian athletes, at the Ottawa Race Weekend. But our relationship started years ago when Malindi reached out, asking questions about training and racing through pregnancy and breastfeeding.
“Krista has been such a positive example to me and so many others about how you can be fast and serious about your running while still being a good parent,” Elmore says. “I look to her as an inspiration as someone who involves her family as a lifestyle decision.”
I can’t recall the exact advice I gave in our discussions, but do remember she had a tougher time returning from her first pregnancy than her second. She learned from her experience and others’, was more patient and followed her body’s cues for the second time around. In September 2018, when she was three months postpartum, she and Graham came up with the idea to solely focus on the marathon. It worked, because four months later she would clock her 2:32:11, the second fastest debut in Canadian history.
So what is Canada’s marathon record holder doing now? She’s allowing her body to completely recover before resuming training for some shorter spring races on the road (and possibly the track). She continues to keep busy with her family and community, using her education background in urban planning, international relations, coaching and education as a coach and event planner in running and triathlons.
Additionally, she is a coach with the Run SMART Project, University of British ColumbiaOkanagan and Okanagan Athletics Club. Although May 31 is the final day of the qualifying period where Elmore will know the likelihood of being named to the team, she will need to wait until June 4 to see her name back on that list of Canadians to compete at the Olympic Games.
“The thought that I could be on Canada’s Olympic team is mind-boggling to me, because I honestly thought that ship had sailed years ago!” she says. “It shows me that the process of reinvention, renewal and re-invigoration can bring opportunities that you didn’t even know were out there. I feel so grateful to have this second chance at my running career.”
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