On this week’s show, these runners share what it takes to make their epic race goals a reality. First runner Irene Preklich shares her story of landing a PB at the Chicago Marathon then running the Detroit Marathon a few weeks later. Then, Canadian Trevor Hobauer talks about that moment in the final seven kilometers of the race where he knew he would qualify for the Olympics. Plus, one runner explains why he is aiming to complete 100 marathons out of pure enjoyment.
ASICS spent US$28 million to acquire London, Ontario-based Race Roster, an onboarding platform used by races across the world to help runners register for their races. The deal, which was announced yesterday, crystallizes a transformative moment not only for Race Roster, but for participants in our sport: ASICS will now have opportunities to work with events that currently are without shoes sponsors on training programs, community building, and, yes, trials of new sneakers and gear. iRun’s editor Ben Kaplan spoke with Alex Vander Hoeven, Race Roster’s founder, and Dan Smith, ASICS president of digital, from the company’s headquarters in Boston.
iRun: I’m not mad at you, Alex, but I did see you at Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon and you could’ve of. . . if not spilled the beans, at least tipped us off a bit.
AVH: I was dying to tell you. I saw that big ASICS ad [in your last issue] and mentioned that things were about to get a lot more exciting in our industry, I just had to first make sure everything was final. We only told the whole team yesterday.
iRun: Talk directly to runners: what does this mean to their race experience?
DS: Signing up for a race is a big deal. Some folks might be attempting a new distance, attempting a PR, and there’s a lot of needs around training, whether it’s meeting like-minded people or upgrading your gear and through our Institute of Sport Science, we can make adaptive training programs that fit really well with the Race Roster ecosystem.
iRun: How so?
DS: We can detail a course’s elevation gains and craft training plans for that specific event while connecting runners and giving them education and, of course, allowing them the opportunity to test drive new ASICS products. It’s about giving runners more to engage with in the race experience, which we know runners want.
AVH: The fun thing is that there’s a lot we don’t understand yet, but it’s going to be a fun experiment to listen to runners.
iRun: What have Canadian race directors said about your new deal?
AVH: So far amongst our friends in the race business in Canada, people we both love, like Cory Freedman with Sporting Life 10K, Rachel Munday with the Manitoba Marathon and Kirsten Fleming with the Calgary Marathon, everyone’s excited. Races will be able to offer their participants more, and smarter custom offerings, and the whole race experience will be enhanced, at no cost to athletes.
iRun: Some of these races, Ottawa with Saucony or STWM, which already has a relationship with New Balance, are in cahoots with shoe brands. How will this deal with ASICS effect previous relationships with competitive brands?
AVH: Somebody like CRS [Canada Running Series] that already has great relationships, this will not at all interfere with that part of their business. The priority is to provide the best technology to our partners so that they can create amazing experiences for their runners.
DS: The great thing about being digital natives is that we can customize the experience per each of our partners. We have to customize the experience for every race, everywhere. So what it looks like for each individual partner might be different, we’ll have to see.
iRun: Dan, you were the CEO of Runkeeper, which ASICS acquired and was a fitness app with GPS tracking that’s still part of ASICS’ digital core. What does Race Roster bring to your table?
DS: Engagement opportunities. It’s such a powerful way of engaging with runners and that’s not only race day, but from registration to celebrating at the finish line. Frankly, from my perspective, what’s most surprising is that some brand hasn’t already done this.
iRun: Why’s that?
DS: From ASICS perspective, we’re a premium running brand committed to runners and the running community and with Race Roster, it’s perhaps the best celebration of running—these events, and we aspire to be present at all of them, but it’s not possible. Or it wasn’t possible. Until we looked around and saw that the team that’s going to win is Race Roster, they’ve demonstrated their commitment to the sport.
iRun: Alex, what does this mean to Race Roster? Are you moving to Boston?
AVH: We’re firmly committed to London, Ontario, where we started, and actually to show that commitment, we’re moving into a bigger space in London, where we’re going to put RACE ROSTER up in big letters right across from the train station. This means Race Roster will hire more employees and bring in more talent to London, Ontario—where we started and where we’re going to grow well beyond geographic boundaries.
DS: We couldn’t be happier with the job Alex and his team have done and we’re going to bring new resources to the table, like the 50-million strong Runkeeper audience. ASICS gives Race Roster a whole new set of tools to help racers, race directors and events.
iRun: It feels like a cool, exciting day for runners.
AVH: We’re serious about serving runners, all runners, whether it’s the 5K, 10K, half marathons, marathons, and that’s what we’re doing with ASICS. We’re going where runners are and giving them new tools for their disposal. We do that, everyone wins.
iRun: Especially ASICS, if they sell more shoes.
DS: When you serve runners and the running community, the shoes sell themselves.
Hosted by Susan Benson in Grand Manan Island, in the Bay of Fundy, this year’s Virtual iRun Santa 5k will take place on Sunday, December 1st. Here’s why Susan runs and why she believes in engaging and encouraging every runner.
A community of 2,300, Grand Manan Island is a small island in the Bay of Fundy. While I was born in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) my family moved here in 1978.
We have a small ferry that travels back and forth to the mainland, which takes an hour and a half each way. But we do not need to travel to the mainland for work or school etc. Everything is here. One school, one grocery store, one bank, one hospital (although babies are born on the mainland)
We do not have traffic lights, fast food, movie theatres, and only one main road which means that to train for a full marathon we have to run up the island and back down to get our mileage. As a result of being so isolated, virtual running is a great way to still feel like we are accomplishing something and we still get great bling! Over the years a few of us from the running community have signed up for a virtual run to do together for various reasons, New Years, World Women’s Day and Christmas in July.
I decided to plan and host a Mud Run for our local Rotary Festival in 2016 just for fun and it was a huge success with about 80 participants. The following summer we had upwards of 130 participants. This year, we had a Grand Manan Race Weekend and added a 5k,10k and half marathon to the festival. Since then we have had a Lighthouse to Lighthouse Run (29km from one end of the island to the other) and a separate 5k and 10k trail run.
I decided to offer the Canada Day 5k to our community as part of our local Canada Day activities. We have a lot of visitors to the Island over the summer so it was a great way to reach a lot of people. We had 92 participate – 82 on Canada Day and 10 did it virtually for various reasons. I just enjoy seeing people involved and love to make things possible for people who would never otherwise get the opportunity. Travelling to the mainland to run is expensive, and although I love to travel and run, I also like to offer local running events to our community for those who cannot afford to travel or take the time to travel. Our Canada Day virtual brought out many families, which was so great to see. Young and old, running and walking together. It brings our community together.
When I learn about the Santa 5k, I included it on our Facebook running community page and had a great response. Running has changed my life. I have always been somewhat athletic, but didn’t start running until I was 47. I have a great group of running friends. We train, travel or run just for fun. I run for the social, I run for my health, I run for the beauty, I run for the community. I love running. And I love getting new people excited about running.
I am excited about the Santa 5k because I think it will be hilarious to see a bunch of Santa’s running down the road! It will certainly be the talk of the town ha ha. I also like that we can use the run as a fundraiser for our local food bank. We are asking each participant to either donate a food item or get some sponsors to help make Christmas better for some of our local less fortunate families. Every run brings out new runners and walkers. Hosting a run is such a simple thing to do to bring our island together and I love to bring opportunities like this one, to our little island.
To join Susan’s Virtual Santa 5k on Grand Manan Island email her at 73redpt@nbnet.nb.ca.
Parkrun is a global sensation that’s making its way through Canada, and its success boils down to one thing: community.
In 2014, Paul Sinton-Hewitt was injured and unemployed. Disconnected from his livelihood and his passion, Paul needed to find a way to do the thing he loved—to whatever extent his injury would let him—and find company that would remind him that brighter days were ahead.
In October of that year, Paul invited anyone who cared to join him on a Saturday morning in London’s Bushy Park for a 5K run. There were, however, conditions. First, it wasn’t a race. Everyone would tackle the distance in whatever way suited them, wearing whatever suited them. Second, everyone was invited to congregate afterward at a nearby cafe for coffee and a natter.
Thirteen showed up for that first run in Bushy Park. Now, hundreds of thousands of runners show up to over a thousand parks across 20 countries every Saturday morning for a timed 5K followed by coffee.
Parkrun has grown so significantly that its organizational structure resembles a Fortune 500 company more than it might a ragtag group of friends running in a park. Sponsored by Saucony—who picks up all the operational costs, making the event entirely free for runners—the brand says its mission is to inspire all runners, and create unbelievable running experiences.
Somewhere in the hierarchy is Euan Bowman, a native of Perth, Scotland—the gateway to the Highlands, as Bowman says the locals know it—now living in Vancouver and acting as the national manager for parkrun Canada.
Bowman breaks the operation down meticulously. The head offices are in London and Leeds. “The whole operation is overseen by a CEO and a COO,” he explains. “From there, we have a network of support staff in the UK that runs parallel to a health and well-being team, which is critical because they think of ways to get more people involved. There are now junior parkruns and prison parkruns.”
On the ground, there are event ambassadors, race directors, timers and volunteers making more than a thousand parkruns happen every week.
Regarding his role, Euan says, “I look after the growth and operations and support for the Canadian events. On a typical day, I receive new event inquiries and we will speak to them and support them in putting on an event.”
He adds, “When you have communities of people, things happen and we don’t just show up and run. We have appropriate insurance and permits everywhere we run.” parkrun has grown astronomically, but Euan is crucial to making sure that it’s original spirit and integrity maintains throughout that growth.
Bowman is sure to emphasize that as the movement grows, “parkrun is first and foremost a community initiative. It just so happens that running is a great way to make the world a happier and healthier place, so we organize these weekly timed runs. What we’re ultimately trying to do, though, is get people outside and socializing, so we do our best to remove the perceived pressure that sometimes comes with races and run clubs.”
“We think,” Bowman continues, “that with run clubs we perhaps won’t fit in. We try to create a place for everyone. Volunteers and spectators are always welcome too, and they get just as much enjoyment out of it as our runners.” When it comes to participating, Bowman says, “If you show up, you can run with your dog or your stroller. There’s no judgement here.”
“We’re all about removing barriers,” Bowman proclaims.
Indeed, green is good for us. Connecting to our parks and trails is an incredible boon to our physical and mental health. Connecting to our neighbours and building friendships and a community of support is good for us too. We’re social creatures and parkrun keeps that fact as its modus operandi. Combine that with the purpose, pleasure and health benefits that running itself provides and you have a pretty magical formula.
Those things, however, are often easier said than done. Many of us struggle to establish a consistent fitness routine and struggle just as much to make time to be social and get outside. It’s no knock on our individual character. We’re busy trying to make ends meet. We’d like to run and meet new people, but races can be expensive and have to work with our existing schedule.
As Bowman breaks down how one gets to their first parkrun, he makes it clear that the whole operation has been structured to take away some of those barriers.
“parkrun asks that you register only once,” Bowman begins. “Thanks to Saucony, it’s completely free. You’re given a barcode that you can print out and keep handy. Then, you’re in for life.” That means no kit pickup!
Bowman continues, “You can go to the parkrun website and find an event near you. They’re all on Saturday morning and you don’t have to tell us you’re coming. Just show up and have your barcode handy, whether in your pocket, bag or car. There’s no need to run with it.”
Once you’ve completed your race on a measured course, your time is captured. Bowman explains, “We’ll give you a token with a number that matches your finishing place and the corresponding time. Then you’ll bring us your barcode and we can match it to your token, so you can be emailed a result. Then it’s coffee!”
Same place, same time every week, with only one free registration required.
That barcode doesn’t just get you to your local race. If you happen to find yourself in Helsinki, Paris, Copenhagen or Eswatini, Swaziland, make sure that barcode comes with you because it’s valid at every local parkrun across the globe—a passport to land anywhere and experience its parks and people through running.
Bowman himself knows the experience of finding himself in a new place and trying to find a sense of community. “Even on the days I wake up in a bad mood, that’s done by the time parkrun is over.”
Beyond the big cities, where the reach of the current running boom is visible in the relentlessly growing number of run crews, independent running shops and packed calendar of races, parkrun has leveraged its model of simplicity to give running a foothold beyond the metropolis.
In North Bay, 360 kilometres north of Toronto, winter still brings out a handful of the hardiest runners to trudge through the accumulation at Veteran’s Field. This summer, parkrun Fort McMurray launches at Syne Point Park, a seven-hour drive north of Calgary.
North Bay Event Director David Holloway says, “Although there are some other runners in North Bay, there are few races, so for people who want to test their fitness and get a time, parkrun is the ideal place to go for a fast time.” Even when the temperatures drop to -43, “The most satisfying thing is that we have many people who come out just to keep fit and are not necessarily fast runners. It’s a family activity.”
Back on the other side of the Atlantic, Bushy Park has seen weekly participation go from 13 to 1200. The Lower Drummans parkrun attracts perhaps ten runners to run alongside the inmates of Magilligan Prison near Limavady (population 12,000), Londonderry County, Northern Ireland. But they do show up, and ten is more than enough for connection, and any connection offsets isolation.
“Go to parkrun and you’ll find friends,” is Bowman’s simple pitch.
Saucony is committed to growing parkrun across the country. Access to sport and the freedom in being able to move outdoors is the beating heart of the brand. parkun, by making the sport of running more accessible, makes it all possible, even if just for a Saturday morning.
To find the nearest parkrun event near you, or to start your own parkrun wherever you are in Canada, please see parkrun.ca.
This summer, millions tuned in on Tuesday nights to cheer on ten teams race across the country on Amazing Race Canada. Now in its seventh season, the challenges were as formidable as ever. And while 29-year-old Olympic hurdler Sarah Wells and her partner, sprinter Sam Effah, had the tools to deal with the task, it wasn’t their athleticism that made them amazing. “It was far more mental than physical—it parallels an Olympic race,” says Wells. “Knowing that this feels terrible, that I am depleted, but being prepared to rise above that physiological alert was a massive asset of oursas athletes: to know how to not give up.”
They would not give up. After weeks of sleep deprivation, inconsistent meals, tricky tasks, fierce competition and cameras in their face, these Team Canada athletes crossed the finish line with grace, taking second. “Sam and I planned to race with integrity and be ourselves and that took a lot of the pressure off trying to be something for TV,” she says. “I feel fortunate of the feedback we received.”
Wells and 30-year-old Effah (now training for the Tokyo Olympics) decided to join forces when they heard the audition call. “Sarah was good when it came to detailed, hands-on challenges, where I was a strength when we had challenges that needed you to analyze the big picture,” Effah says. “Our combination of strengths made us a strong, versatile team.” Sarah wasn’t always a world-class athlete. As a student at Unionville High School, she tried out for every single team possible—and got cut from all of them. “I was convinced I was the least athletic human on the planet,” she says. “Seriously, it was embarrassing.”
Everything changed when her gym teacher introduced her to track and field. This sounded terrible to 15-year-old Wells, who had a disdain for running. However, coach Dave Hunt, having trained varsity athletes at the University of Toronto, was an apt talent judge. Once Wells found the 400-metre hurdles, there was no turning back. “I started training with him and eight months later, we made the world youth team together.”
After high school, despite the plethora of U.S.universities offering scholarships, Wells decided to attend the only Canadian university she applied to—the University of Toronto. By staying in her hometown, she continued training under Hunt, with whom she had so much success. “We stayed together for the next eight years,”she says, “until we made the Olympics.” Getting there, however, took everything that she had. In 2011, a year before she made the Olympic Team, Wells endured a stress fracture in her femur. An injury that was supposed to take three months to heal took nine months (an eternity during the Olympic qualifying period). A hernia that Wells says “is a long story” was another setback. A growing disbelief in her began to spread.
“So few people thought I could do it that on my first day back to training, I got the word ‘Believe’ tattooed on my wrist, and I said when I go to the Games, I will put the Olympic rings underneath it.” Wells beat the odds and made it to the Olympics and competed in London and even reached the semi-finals. (To her father’s chagrin,Wells now has two wrist tattoos.) Armed with first-hand experience that believing in yourself actually worked, Wells found Believe Initiative (BelieveInitiative.com), where she inspires students to see “hurdles and not walls.” In the past 30 months, Wells has shared her story with over 45,000 students across North America.
“We go into schools and we have students pick a passion they have and a problem they want to solve,” she says. “They use that passion to solve that problem through self-belief—and action.” This call-to-action came into play when in the Northwest Territories, an Amazing Race challenge required Wells to dive into the record Great Slave Lake and swim under three feet of ice to retrieve a clue. “I can’t swim!” she says. “If you would have told me I had to do that challenge, I would have said no way. We will get kicked off on that episode.”
After suffering a panic attack, an emotional Wells found a way to get it done, exclaiming on TV: “I hated every minute of that!” Her teammate, Effah, remembers another occasion when her resilience allowed them to keep racing. “When we got lost in Quebec, we could have easily given up, but having the ‘persistence’ mentality kept us in the game,” he says. “Sarah sees a challenge, attempts it, and doesn’t let up until she’s successful—period.”
For Wells, she accomplished her running goal by competing in the Olympics. However, from a Games experience, the 2015 Pan Am Games was exceptional. Not only did she win a silver medal in the 400-metre hurdles and a bronze medal in the 4 x 400-metre relay, but she did it in Toronto, before her hometown crowd. “There’s a moment of taking a victory lap with your flag, which already feels great, and then there’s the moment doing a victory lap with your flag with your family in the stands. That’s a whole other level to share it in the city where everything started.”
With all of her accolades, her reality TV fame and her passion for inspiring Canadians to believe in themselves, Wells acknowledges that beating your own time is the greatest triumph for a runner. “I think the ultimate achievement is a personal best,” she says. “That feeling is the exact same feeling at the Olympic level as it is at any one of your races. That personal best feeling is equivalent. It’s the ultimate pursuit.”
On this week’s show, Mark speaks with runners who are taking on new race day challenges. First, the Berlin Marathon is one of the World Marathon Majors and Susan Robertson shares her story of running through history in Berlin on a rainy race day. Then, find out why John Nicholson was inspired to go from sitting on his couch to competing in ultra marathons. Plus, learn about what does it take for a marathon runner to going beyond the 42K distance and complete her first 50K race.
By Karen Kwan
Although it’s relatively close to Toronto (where the iRun editorial team is based), the Detroit Marathon seems to be a hidden gem to most of the Toronto running community. For a few years, though, I’ve had it on my destination race bucket list, and finally made it happen last weekend. And I’ve rounded up 10 reasons you should add this race to your goal-race list.
3. You run into Canada! I dare you not to feel patriotic pride as you approach the border lined with Canadian flags on either side and border patrol high-giving and cheering you on. I don’t know if there are many races that take place in two countries! “Be careful; we’re crossing into Canada; they’ll friendly you to death,” I overheard one runner say. “Do we run 20 percent faster there thanks to the exchange rate?” his friend replied. Oh, and the medal features a ribbon that is half American flag, half Canadian!
4. You take the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel back into the U.S. Hello, photo opp: in the tunnel, the border between the U.S. and Canada is indicated, so you can stand with one foot in each country if you’re inclined to stop for a picture (I kept going as I was trying to BQ).
5. The route is relatively flat. Although there are some decent hills along the route, the route is mostly flat and includes going into pretty and green Belle Isle and along the river so you have plenty to keep you visually stimulated. Also, besides the marathon, there is also an international half-marathon, U.S.-only half-marathon, a marathon relay, a 5K and a 1k race.
6. Cheers to multiple booze options along the route. I’ve never seen a race with so many drinks on offer. There were at least two beer stations, one with shots of hard alcohol, and another serving up Bloody Marys. The snack game was on point, too. I spotted M&Ms, Oreos and potato chips. This is in addition to the official race fuel (Gatorade and Clif Bar) , of course.
7. Hello, fun post-race festivities! Enjoy the live band as you gingerly move around taking photos, stretching and consuming the bounty of snacks and bevvies (from granola bars to Goldfish crackers, animal crackers and fruit cups, pineapple juice and bananas, and of course, water and Gatorade). Plus, the snacks that aren’t distributed to runners gets donated to a food bank.
8. You’ve got great hotels to choose from for your marathon weekend. At the Element, we enjoyed a huge suite filled with natural light, not to mention a kitchen (which would’ve been a good option for cooking out pre-race pasta rather than waiting 90 minutes for a table at a restaurant). They also had breakfast available as of 5 a.m. for runners so your race morning fuel is taken care of. And as a Westin property, the Element has the signature Heavenly beds, so like us, you can sleep like babies and were well rested for running 42.2k. Tip: the Element is steps away from a Drought Juice, where you can pick up cold-pressed juices to keep you well hydrated. Other than the Element, in the same neighbourhood, you’ve got the trendy Shinola Hotel and the wonderfully over-the-top maximalist design of the Siren Hotel.
9. Epic post-race meal options. Detroit is a fantastic foodie destination. We opted for a protein-rich feast at Slow’s Bar BBQ, which is a local BBQ institution, but there are so many more spots to explore, including pizza at Supino’s in Eastern Market or Karl’s in the Siren Hotel where the chef is James Beard Award nominee Kate Williams.
10. Great sightseeing post-marathon. You’ll find lots of arts and culture as motivation to keep those legs moving after the race. There’s the award-winning outdoor art installation the Heidelberg Project, the Detroit Institute of Arts, along with historic buildings with jaw-dropping architecture such as the Guardian Building and Fisher Building, to name just a few.
Have I sold you on running Detroit? I’m already thinking I’d like to run it in 2020 so maybe I’ll see you there!
Karen Kwan is a regular iRun fashion and travel contributor, and you’ll find her running fashion posts every Friday on Instagram. She contributes to a number of publications and you can also follow her travel and running adventures at Health & Swellness.
Make ahead meals where you can do the prep work the night make for an easy time the next day. Pull together a fast and fresh meal together with ease, Julie Miguel’s secret weapons : burrito bowls. The great thing about Burrito bowls is that they are versatile so you can use a variety of proteins such as chicken, beef or pork and any of your favourite toppings.
Pulled Pork Burrito Bowls
INGREDIENTS
Pulled pork:
1 2-3 lb pork shoulder or pork butt
1 cup brown sugar
¼ cup sweet smoked paprika
¼ cup chipotle powder
¼ mustard powder
1 Tsp Cayenne pepper (Cayenne is very spicy so eliminate this if you don’t like spice)
3 Tbsp garlic powder
¼ cup Tbsp Olive Oil
1 bottle of beer
Burrito Rice
1 cup white rice
2 cups water
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 sweet yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon chili powder, or more to taste
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
Guacamole
2 Avocados
1 Lime
Salt & pepper to taste
Other toppings
Fresh Cilantro
Shredded cheese
Lime juice
Jalapenos
Sour cream
Chopped tomatoes
DIRECTIONS:
Make the Pulled Pork: mix all of the spices and the oil in a bowl and incorporate into a paste with your hands. Rub the mixture into your meat very well, massaging it to make sure the spices penetrate the meat. Put the meat into an oven safe dish. Pour in a bottle of beer. Seal your dish well with foil paper.
Roast for 3-4 hours at 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
Remove the dish from the oven at the 3 hour mark and check to see if the meat is coming apart from the bone easily. If it is not, roast it for a little longer. Once it is cooked and easily comes apart, let cool to a temperature that you can handle the meat with your hands. Take the pork with your hands and shred it using your fingers. Discard extra cartilage, bone and fat. Add the shredded pork back into the dish with the drippings. Reheat your meat, if needed, in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10-15 minutes. Keep warm until you are ready to use it or store in your refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Make the Burrito rice: Bring rice and water to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes.
Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir onion and garlic in hot butter until onion is translucent, 5 to 6 minutes. Melt 1 more tablespoon butter with onions and garlic; stir chili powder, paprika, cumin, black pepper and cayenne pepper into mixture. Cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes.
Stir black beans and tomato sauce into contents of skillet; bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, and cook until flavors blend, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Mix your plain cooked rice with your bean mixture until combined.
Make the tortilla bowls: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat the tortillas in the microwave for 30 seconds. Rub each tortilla with a little oil and gently press the tortilla around the outside of an oven safe bowl. Place the bowl on a baking sheet and put in the oven. Bake for about 10 12 minutes or until the tortilla appears browned and crisp.
Make your guacamole: Cut the avocados in half, remove the pit and spoon out the fruit into a bowl. Mash the avocados, add lime juice and stir. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Assemble your burrito bowls: Add rice, pulled pork, guacamole, sour cream, tomatoes, cheese and cilantro to each tortilla bowl. Serve and enjoy!
Julie Miguel is an iRun food contributor, where you’ll find a selection of weekly recipes and food ideas. She is a home cook, and food influencer and has worked with a national television, print and online media outlets. You can also follow her food discoveries and travel adventures at Daily Tiramisu.
Jay Wilgar is an experienced runner and one of Canada’s most influential cannabis executives. Here, he describes what CBD means to him
My foray into the incredibly interesting world of legalized marijuana had its beginnings at an evening workout in Burlington, Ontario, in December 2012. Fresh off a career of several successful—and some not so successful—entrepreneurial start-ups, including the surprisingly controversial large-scale wind power development, my friend Travis Kanellos asked if I had heard about the government’s plans to legalize cannabis production. I gave him a quizzical look.
By February, I had enough evidence to know that if they were giving out licenses to grow pot, I was going to get one! Within a month, we had a site in Brantford, Ontario, owned by a somewhat apprehensive landlord, and we proceeded to dive head-first into the painstaking world of Health Canada licensing. Much to the dismay of my family and friends (my mother referred to it as “Jay’s Flower Shop”), we would spend the next four years raising money, narrowly avoiding bankruptcy, then finally becoming one of the early licensees to grow and sell medical and recreational cannabis to Canadians.
I’ve had a front-row seat in the world’s first-ever experiment with the full legalization of cannabis. As CEO of Newstrike Brands, I’ve helped build one of Canada’s large grow-ops in arguably the most exciting business story in North America since the dot.com market run of the early 2000s.
Over this time, Newstrike went public, endured a hostile takeover, partnered with the Tragically Hip (our ticker symbol on the TSX was “HIP”), raised $180-million and ultimately was sold to Hexo in May of this year. It was an exciting time.
Running and triathlon has been part of my life for 20 years. Many of my creative business ideas were developed while out on a long run—and much of the stress of life and business that have been thrown at me have been quashed by the vigour of a brisk run. For many runners and athletes, a buzz has formed when talking about a new and now legal “magic drug,” CBD. We recently read stories of famous professional athletes openly talking about their own CBD use and the many benefits it has in both training, sleep and recovery. From golfers to grandmothers, CBD seems to be more and more on the minds of people not only here in Canada, but in many other countries that have legalized the use of CBD now found in oils, candies, bath bombs, lotions, creams and sublingual spray.
CBD, or as it’s properly known, cannabidiol, is one of dozens of compounds called “cannabinoids” that are naturally found in the oil of cannabis plants. Its cousin, the far better known THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) is the compound that provides the psychoactive effect—it’s what gets you stoned. Anecdotal evidence suggests that CBD can be effective for pain management (with powerful anti-inflammatory properties), anxiety, sleep and even seizures. But having been labelled as a Class 1 one drug for so long, there remains a limited amount of research into the true short- and long-term benefits that CBD and other cannabis compounds can provide.
There are many CBD products available legally in Canada. It’s important for anyone looking to incorporate this into your day-to-day life or training to ask a lot of questions and speak to medical professionals who are educated on cannabis products. Many of the CBD products on the market contain high levels of THC, which I can assure you will make for a very interesting (albeit slow) run.
The training cycle gets serious for me when I put on my watch. Since I run all year long, I like some runs to be carefree. I don’t always need every measurement. However, when my marathon approaches, I don’t mess around. It’s important to hit my interval splits and it’s essential to know my pace. The Corus Pace is my new favourite watch, and I can’t think of any runner who wouldn’t be impressed.
Coros is a premium multi-sport watch, and the company has been a technology leader since bringing to market the Linx helmet, which cancelled out noise and gave cyclists a chance to listen to music. I’ve worn Garmin, Suunto, Fitbit and Apple, and have generally been impressed by each. Every last bit of hardware seems to excel at something different. The Garmin is reliable, iconic—offering strong GPS signals and no nonsense design, this was my training watch until something terrible happened. I lost it. My Apple watch is fancy. My kids love to watch (pardon the pun) me call my wife by speaking into my wrist. It has a compass, map and can check your heart rhythm, and menstrual cycle. It’s an Apple, which has basically become synonymous with best of the best.
Meanwhile: my Suunto watch looks best, works great and the Fitbit is fun because the whole family has one, even the kids. Nothing like my 8-year-old using her Fitbit to run 6K, furthest than any of her previous races.
The Coros Pace watch is designed for triathletes and keeps intense metrics for swimming and cycling, as well as on your run. In May, Coros launched the Vertix and announced it as “the most powerful GPS watch ever built.” I ran the marathon in Erie, Pennsylvania at the start of the month in my Pace watch and while my running partners lost their signals, I did not. The battery life on this watch is 30 days when on regular use. 30 days!
Wearable GPS watches have become a necessity for most serious runners and while iRun likes to advise caution when spending too much money on a sport that only really requires sneakers and pants, the Pace improved my training and bested my long run and speed work needs. It’s light (49g), water resistant and ready for me to get on the bike and make the triathlon plunge, should I ever take up Sportstats’ CEO Marc Roy’s offer to train me. There’s also a built-in heart rate monitor and data metrics on stride length and stroke rate, which is deeper into my running than I want to go, but will appeal to lots of you with big spring race goals.
To conclude: the GPS watch market is competitive and it’s important to prioritize the features that mean most to you. At this stage, the technology has been democratized and the price point is dropping and so, whatever your needs, a watch could help you train. For me, the Pace proved essential on my run-up to Erie, with big numbers on the watch face which made it easy to see my mileage, even as I got more tired with each kilometre I ran. The interactivity is intuitive and I would recommend this watch.
Just remember, no matter how deeply you fall in love, sometimes it’s OK to leave your watch at home and run by feel. That’s what Trevor Hofbauer just did at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon. And look at him—Trev is en route to the Olympics.
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