Kenia Sousa, reached on her forty-sixth birthday, has plans to have a nice dinner, eat cake with her husband and two children and go for a run. The Brazil native who, after twelve years in Belgium, moved to Canada in 2018 and was nominated for the Run Your Way New Balance community prize by several members of her Run Waterloo crew, and, of course, the team at Runner’s Choice, is training for the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon—her third—and is known for her enthusiastic cheering and support.
“I’m a beginner runner, not a fast runner, and I don’t know how to coach, so I never imagined I’d be an important part of our community,” says Sousa, who began dragging her 12 and 10-year-olds to water stations around Waterloo to volunteer at local races, but now says that her children love participating on race day. “At first, it was hard—giving our time and changing our routine, but now cheering has become something we all love to do.”
Kenia says that it’s one thing to tell her kids that it’s important to care for other people and support your friends. But when she actually does it, and brings her children along for the ride, it puts action beyond her powerful, important words.
“I can tell my kids that it’s important to be a good person and help your friends, but it doesn’t have that much impact,” Kenia says, “but when we’re out there actually cheering and my children see all the faces, they can feel the impact we’re making and it fills my heart.”
New Balance is one of the world’s best running shoe manufacturers and they’ve been in business since 1906, creating such winning lines as the FuelCell SuperComp, SuperComp Elite, FreshFoam X1080 and the FreshFoam X 880v14, which they sent to Kenia, along with performance shorts and shirt. As part of an iRun collaboration, New Balance is promoting their Run Your Way campaign by reaching out to runners across Canada and asking them which runners positively impact their community.
Emma Walpole, who runs with Kenia in Waterloo, told iRun: “My heart warms knowing Kenia is out there.” Emma then said, “Kenia’s love for our community is demonstrated through her smile and actions, and you can see this in her kids. Her leadership sets a great example for our whole team.”
Meanwhile, another Waterloo runner, Gary Gravelle, also raved about his friend. “Kenia is passing on a really positive community spirit and she’s a bright spot when she volunteers at races—which is often!”
Kenia describes her gifted New Balance Fresh Foam X 880v14 shoes as feeling like “running on a cloud,” and says that running not only helps with her physical health, but also with mental health. This is another attribute that Kenia believes is important to share with both her community and her kids.
“When I first arrived in Canada six years ago, running seemed like the perfect deal—affordable, flexible and a great way to explore Toronto while staying fit. At first, running kept me confident and that helped me land a job quickly. Well, running stuck around and it evolved into a habit that now fuels me, it clears my mind, solves problems, inspires my ideas and decisions, and keeps me fresh,” she told iRun. “Running and volunteering have become a family fun event with my husband and two kids alongside me. Seeing generosity and positivity flourishing in my kids has been my proudest achievement, and I appreciate the acknowledgement from iRun and New Balance very much.”
Running is an individual sport, but every runner has the ability to uplift their community. Please join New Balance and iRun in applauding Kenia Sousa, and be on the lookout for three more Run Your Way community leaders in the coming weeks. Together, let’s all find new finish lines.
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