Innholdsfortegnelse for January/February 2026 i Canadian Running

A recent study of how Boston Marathon qualifiers train contains a seeming contradiction. The more you train in the four months leading up to the event, the faster you’ll race. So far, so obvious. But if you increase your training in those final fourth months compared to the preceding eight months, you’ll race more slowly. Reconciling those two observations leads to some important insights about what it takes to run your best marathon—insights that extend beyond the narrow question of how to plan your taper. What the study found The new research was published in the journal Sports Medicine by a team led by Alexandra DeJong Lempke (and including Canadian researcher Trent Stellingwerff of the Canadian Sport Institute Pacific). They surveyed a total of 917 athletes competing in the 2022…

Ever found yourself at one of those small Canadian airports with no practical way—beyond an expensive taxi—of getting into town? Such was my conundrum on a recent trip to the Vancouver Island outpost of Port Hardy. There was no public transportation from the terminal, and the taxis had all been taken by other passengers. Checking Google Maps on my phone, I learned it was only 11 km into town via a circuitous cross-country route. After testing the weight of my overstuffed 30-litre backpack, I decided to run. Using my phone to find the route, I quickly established a gentle jogging rhythm along a rural sidewalk past detached country houses and mossy tracts of forest. The road led to Fort Rupert, site of a onetime Hudson Bay Company fort and a…

Runners Fashion buyer Kristen Tse, 32, grew up in Hong Kong and Shanghai, and now lives in Toronto’s vibrant Queen West neighbourhood. Her goal for 2026 is to qualify for the Boston Marathon. Alex Baird, 32, is an IT professional who grew up in Burlington, Ont., and who is returning to running after a long break. He plans to run his first marathon in 2026. Alex The North Face Casaval Hybrid Jacket $320 Under Armour Halo Cold Weather Pants $130 Oakley Sutro Lite sunglasses $252 SHOE Altra FWD Via 2 $200 Kristen New Balance Better Run Waterproof Jacket $325 Puma x Saysky Moisture Wicking Running Sweatshirt $155 (layered below) Under Armour Rival High-Rise Woven Pants $65 SHOE New Balance 880 v15 $180 Alex New Balance Woven Full Zip Jacket $110…

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We’ve all heard the statistics about how girls drop out of sports at a much higher rate, and at an earlier age, than boys, correlating with a drop in self-esteem that can persist into adulthood. There are many reasons for this, one of the biggest being lack of access. Here’s what some committed and imaginative runners across Canada are doing to create more opportunities for girls to find a place for themselves in running, sport and life. Yukon’s Fireweed Runners Five years ago, alarmed by a study showing poor mental health in young girls in the Yukon, Whitehorse race director and teacher Natalie Thivierge decided to start a run club for girls. With help from a local non-profit, Fireweed Runners was born. As a kid, Thivierge’s experience with organized sports…

Running economy is defined as the energy required to run at a submaximal pace, and is one of the key predictors of running performance. Running at different intensities will develop the aerobic and anaerobic systems, while strength and plyometric training (hopping and jumping exercises) develop running economy. While there is no doubt that you need to run more to run faster in races, adding plyometric and strength training are the missing link to taking your running to the next level. (When comparing two runners with similar VO2 max, the runner with the better running economy can normally outperform their counterpart because they can run at a higher intensity for longer.) Data gathered from a meta-analysis published in Sports Med in 2024 showed bigger improvements in running economy when runners combined…

Bend your knees, relax your shoulders, extend your arms. Odds are, runners have heard at least one of those tips to try and improve their form. But, considering all runners are not made equal, how do you define efficient running form? Garrett de Jong, a former University of Ottawa runner, didn’t think about his running form until his teammates presented him with a made-up award—for “worst running form on the team”—a teasing reference to how he stuck his butt out when running. “I think it was half joking, half real,” says de Jong, who is now a chiropractor and a coach with Mile2Marathon in Ottawa. Although the award was fictitious, it had an impact, and de Jong started thinking about how to run more efficiently. He points out that humans…

There are plenty of half-marathons that promise scenic views and spirited crowds, but few can transport runners straight into a fantasy world. That’s exactly what the Middle-earth Halfling Marathon accomplishes each year. More than 1,000 participants lace up to run through New Zealand’s Waikato region, winding directly through Hobbiton, the movie set brought to life in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. The event was inspired by Tolkien’s vision of the Shire and the rolling farmland that made the Waikato such a natural choice for the films. Participants begin their journey at Buckland Landing, with a view of the rolling farmland and Kaimai mountain range in the distance. From there, the course delivers on the promise of Middle-earth magic: winding through Gandalf’s Cutting, past Hobbit Holes tucked…

Enjoyed in moderation, dessert deserves a place in the balance of fuel and recovery. After all, when the fire burns hot enough, anything will burn. (And trail runners, in particular, have been known to cram in all manner of real-food sweets, not only when recovering, but while running.) A rich tiramisu layered with espresso and cream, a warm skillet chocolate chip cookie meant for passing around the table or a fragrant, flourless almond lemon cake—these remind runners that recovery also happens in conversation and in savouring sweetness. The key isn’t restriction, but rhythm. Runners train with intensity, and their bodies know balance: push hard, then refuel and rest. A mindful dessert fits beautifully into that cycle. Sharing dessert after a long run can be a legitimate part of the celebration…

Marathoners know how hard it is to run a smooth, even-paced race, at a pace you can carry to the finish line with minimal slowing down. Rare is the runner who can run a negative split in the marathon. For most runners, it’s a major achievement if they can slow down by less than 10 minutes between the first and second halves of the race. There are many factors that influence how well you finish, but one that many runners don’t consider is their daily mileage. In the mid-’70s, Ken Young, founder of the National Running Data Center in the U.S. and a 2:25 marathoner with PhD in geophysics and statistics, came up with something he referred to as collapse point theory. This said that training mileage over the previous…

When I was eight and my family lived in Hong Kong, our babysitter took my brother and me to the Hong Kong Walk for Millions. A 10-km route, it was my first distance event, and it took us about three hours to finish. That day, a world record was set for the greatest recorded amount raised by a single charity walk—HK$1.9 million. We ran a little, walked a lot and felt the civic pride of a community endeavour that aligned mobility with local culture. Running may be one of the simplest forms of exercise, but across the world it takes on remarkably different meanings. In some countries it’s purely recreation; in others, it’s transportation, ritual or resistance. Geography, climate and social organization shape how and why people run, and what…

If you’re like many urban runners, you know that on run club night, sometimes the real workout isn’t on the track—it’s sitting in traffic, inching forward while your brain screams louder than your legs during 800 repeats. That grind can sap your spirits more than finishing just off your age-group podium. Coquitlam, B.C.’s Dan Simpson was one of those souls condemned to the rush-hour crawl. As his running improved, he thought about joining a Vancouver club, but that would have meant adding another chapter to his epic traffic saga. Instead of wasting energy pounding the dashboard, Simpson started scheming, and came up with the idea for a locally-based running club: Kamino Running. The name blends Camino (Spanish for “the way”) with El Camino Drive in Coquitlam, where Simpson logged many…