Run Canada Podcast

A record-breaking 14,000 participants trained for months for the 2026 Manitoba Marathon. At the office, we spent 11 months planning for them. Ever wondered what it takes to get thousands of runners safely to the finish line? Who's thinking about medals, water stations, road closures, bananas, and porta-potties while you're focused on race day? The answer: a whole lot of incredible people. In part...

A record-breaking 14,000 participants trained for months for the 2026 Manitoba Marathon. At the office, we spent 11 months planning for them. Ever wondered what it takes to get thousands of runners safely to the finish line? Who's thinking about medals, water stations, road closures, bananas, and porta-potties while you're focused on race day? The answer: a whole lot of incredible people. In this...

After more than 250 episodes and one question asked over and over again— When did you first fall in love with running? —This special clip show brings together some of my favourite answers from the archives. From Olympians and Team Canada athletes who seemed destined to run, to everyday runners whose journeys began with friendship, community, adventure, or self-discovery, these stories highlight th...

Like so many great stories in the running community, So Far So Good Run Club started with an idea shared on a long trail run. Greg Hanycz had an idea, and somewhere out on the trails with Brock Fraser, that idea started to take shape. With the help of a few key people, So Far So Good Run Club was born. Talk to anyone who's run with So Far So Good and they'll tell you the same thing: it's people an...

Lauren Gale may now live and train in Ottawa, but this Newfoundland-born sprinter, raised by two Nova Scotians, still carries the warmth and spirit of the East Coast everywhere she goes. Friendly, thoughtful, and deeply connected to her family, friends, and community, Lauren's positivity stands out just as much as her speed on the track. Over the years, she's experienced the highs and lows that co...

Ali McPherson was born with running in her blood. What started as childhood bike rides alongside her mother during long training runs has grown into a remarkable career on both the trails and the roads. In 2025, she claimed first female at both the Sinister 7 Ultra 50K and the UTMB Challenge 50K in Fin del Mundo. On the road racing side, she won the Manitoba Half Marathon and returned to the Bosto...

Michael Betteridge is the kind of person who doesn't just show up for his community—he helps build it. In Regina, he's become a driving force in creating spaces where queer people and allies can be active, feel welcome, and show up exactly as they are. That vision comes to life through Queer Fit Club: a free, community-driven fitness pop-up built on collaboration and connection. Spend a little tim...

In this episode, we're exploring the connection between grief and running. When Marcella Sangregorio was just two years old, her mother, Lisa, was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour behind her left eye and given two to five years to live. Remarkably, Lisa lived for another twenty years. Marcella and her father acted as Lisa's primary caregivers until her passing. Moving forward and finding he...

Need a little spring sunshine in your day? This is the episode for you. Nat Severino is a Toronto-based runner who grew up loving sport, but like so many, drifted away from it in adulthood. It wasn't until the stillness of the COVID era—through virtual run challenges and a search for calm in the chaos—that Nat found their way back. Now, Nat shows up as their full, authentic self: a proud nonbinary...

Tanya Desrivières  arrived at the start line of her first ultra trail race in a pretty unconventional way. She had always been active outdoors in a variety of sports and is a self-proclaimed Gym Rat. But when the Spartan Ultra she had trained for was first cancelled mid-race due to weather and then shut down the following year by COVID, she decided to channel all that hard work and training into a...

Ceili McCabe has always known she wanted to be a professional athlete. From a young age, her goal was simple: compete at the highest level, no matter the sport. She began in soccer, but after an injury in her teens made it clear that reaching the top of that sport might not be possible, she recalibrated and shifted her focus. That competitive drive—and her love of being part of a team—eventually l...

When athlete Leanne Taylor was involved in a mountain biking accident that left her paralyzed from the waist down, her world changed. While she was navigating the emotions that come with a life-altering injury, Leanne decided she would focus on finding a new way to continue to bring back confidence and goal-setting through sport. Just eight months after her injury, she was on a start line competin...

This week, I'm bringing back 42 Questions —a segment I haven't done in a while—and there was only one person who came to mind to relaunch it: the sunshine-filled Joyce Law. Joyce is a run and strength coach dedicated to empowering women, and she's a vibrant force in run communities across the GTA. No matter where she shows up, though, her heart belongs to her home crew, We Run North York. I loved...

TRIGGER WARNING: Today's conversation includes a discussion of substance abuse and a suicide attempt. I feel that it is important to share this story, but I also recognize that these topics can be heavy. Please listen in a way that feels safe for you, and don't hesitate to step away or join me for the next episode if you need to. If this episode brings up difficult feelings, support is available....

Kelsey Hogan started running outside as a kid in her hometown of Steady Brook, NL. That early love for being outside and exploring has grown into a passion for elite ultra trail racing.  After talking with Kelsey, it became clear that connection sits at the heart of everything she does: connection to the natural world and the way it feels to move through it on the trails, connection rooted in grat...

At the Banff Film Festival in November 2025, a short film titled Becky Bates, Not a Running Story, premiered. The documentary followed Becky Bates, a 62-year-old BC ultrarunner, as she prepared for her third startline at the legendary Hardrock 100. This title perfectly captures Becky's humble take on her place in the sport: she doesn't see what she is doing as remarkable, even though many (read: m...

Today we're hanging out with Quebec trail phenom Maïka Lamoureaux. Maïka somehow makes balancing life as a PhD candidate at HEC Montréal and a fiercely competitive trail running career look easy. In 2022, she was selected to represent Canada at the World Mountain & Trail Running Championships in Thailand—and at just 24, she was the youngest athlete in the 80K. That experience lit a fire, building...

Giddy up—because today, Michelle and Kim Krezonoski are back! Kim and Michelle have been crushing their own running goals—most notably finishing as the top two Canadian women at the 2024 Boston Marathon—yet they stay grounded and remind us that life is full of different pursuits that fuel us. Beyond their own training, they've spent the past few years inspiring athletes through their coaching comp...

Sarah Deeb, along with her sister Maysoun, launched Womensfitsauga in 2020 to get more women moving together in a social, supportive space - and to become the role models they wished they had had growing up in sport. The journey hasn't been without bumps (looking at you, COVID), but every pivot they had to make and new activity they had to try helped shape the dynamic, welcoming run space they hav...

Regular listeners of the show might already know, but I have had something on my running bucket list for a very long time: crewing at a trail ultramarathon. My amazing friend Jenn Walton granted my wish like a fairy when she ran the 48-hour race at the Beaudry Fall Classic. And of course, I brought my microphones so you could come along for the ride.  I can now proudly attest that I know firsthand...

This episode makes a three-peat for one of my all-time favourite guests, Gabriela DeBues Stafford. Gabriela has had an extremely challenging few years, focused on injuries that were so consistently unresolved that she actually contemplated retirement. However, the resilience that defines this remarkably unstoppable athlete, paired with the support of healthcare professionals and the boundless love...

Alex and Vince Huynh have a bit of a competitive streak. They are constantly seeing how far and how fast they can go. But their drive goes beyond personal goals: they're passionate about welcoming new runners and helping people challenge themselves. They also saw a need for more Asian role models in the sport, which led them to create the Asian Toronto Running Club just over a year ago. Vince, Ale...

I'm excited to bring it to you today's chat from the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon's Women's Training Group. After the pandemic, Canada Running Series and ASICS Canada set out to address, and work to find solutions to, the considerable gap between the number of women and the number of men running marathons. In 2024, they launched the Women's Training Group to support and empower more women to ch...

Today we're getting optimized with Nicole Sifuentes. We might keep things casual in our chat, but don't let that fool you—Nicole was an absolute force on the track. She's a twelve-time NCAA All-American, a five-time Canadian Championship medalist in the 1500 and 5000, and she repped Team Canada at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympics. She also still holds the women's record for the BAA Invitation...

Crossing Lines founders Kortnee Borden and Matt Geofroy had spent many years running with Parkdale Roadrunners: they had always been able to find ways to push for their own goals while helping others feel the magic of getting out in equal measure. But when they entered the ultra endurance trail space, they noticed something missing: people of colour. So they decided to take action and create chang...