Omena Babalola is an accomplished 55-year old masters sprinter from Winnipeg MB and an absolute force to be reckoned with. Born in Nigeria to two high achieving parents, Omena came to Canada in her early 20s and spent time on Prince Edward Island before completing her MBA at St. Mary’s University in Halifax and following her man to Winnipeg. Omena …

Stuart Chutter is the first trail ultrarunner we’ve had on the show who is also a regenerative farmer from Melville, Saskatchewan. We were super curious about how a person finds the time for both farming and ultrarunning, activities that each require significant commitment, time and energy for success. So we invited Stuart to come on the show to ta…

**TRIGGER WARNING - This episode has references to sexual abuse. In this episode, Edmontonian elite ultra runner Priscilla Forgie returns to the show to discuss her contribution to the new book Run for Your Life. This book is an incredible collaboration of short stories written by 13 different runners made possible by several sponsors from Alberta,…

Jean Fortier is the general director and founder of Québec Mega Trail. He joins us to talk about his running origins and dive deep into the past, present and future of this amazing event. QMT is a legendary ultra-trail race, renowned as one of the most beautiful but also as one of the hardest in Canada. Crossing one of the most beautiful places in …

Nick Kershaw is a man with a mission. A runner with a background in finance and a passion for international development, Nick joins us from the UK to tell us all about how the Impact Marathon Series came to be and why it is so special. The Impact Marathon Series was born in 2015 from a dream that we could use the simple power of running to uplift c…

Jen Shapka is a woman with a mission who seemingly can’t say no…and there are many runners who are grateful she says yes most of the time! Jen has moved a lot in her adult life, and it was the frequent moving that made this now 45-year old force herself to find a community wherever she landed. With two small kids at home, a husband away for work, a…

Rory Linkletter is a professional Canadian athlete who lives and trains in Flagstaff, Arizona, is sponsored by Puma, and is coached by US half marathon record holder, Ryan Hall. He is also now the 2nd fastest Canadian marathoner in history! We first had Rory on the show six months ago (Ep 153) after finishing 19th at the World Championships maratho…

Today’s episode features three incredible ladies who all have speaking roles at The Run Retreat, an inaugural women’s event that will be taking place in beautiful Hecla Provincial Park, 2 hours north of Winnipeg, MB, from June 7-9, 2024. Three-time Inspired Soles guest Sasha Gollish is our keynote speaker and in addition to being an elite Canadian …

Our COTQ series is meant to highlight the different aspects of what it means to be in a partnership when one or both people are runners and do we ever have a power couple to feature today in Jonelle Koop-Yumang and Melvin Yumang. Melvin is the runner of their duo but as you’re about to hear, his 6-year running journey has aligned very closely with …

Evan Birch is a partner, father, friend, colleague and ultra runner who has been running his entire life, in more ways than one. While his accomplishments range from competing in the Sinister 7 100, the Canadian Death Race and the Divide 200, Evan’s foray into ultra running began in 2017, born out of running away from a two-decade career in emergen…

On February 3rd, 2024, the United States held their Olympic Marathon Trials in Orlando, FL to determine the team they will be sending to the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, France. Once every four years the best in the country race head-to-head where the top three men and top three women are chosen to represent the country at the Olympics. Not many cou…

Andrew Swan is a 55 year old lawyer, former politician and runner who is a staple in the Winnipeg community…some might even say “Winnipeg famous.” He practiced family law for 14 years before being elected to the Manitoba Legislature in 2004. He served as the Minister of Competitiveness, Training and Trade as well as the Minister for Liquor and Lott…

Waldo Cheung is a physiotherapist originally from BC currently living in Calgary, AB. His current interests lie in the promotion of healthy running and rock climbing as well as the preservation of strength and function in the middle age and elderly. He has worked and taught in a variety of different rehabilitation settings from critical care to spo…

Dave Proctor is back on the show for the third time. Since we last spoke in the spring of 2022, he’s become the fastest person to run across Canada AND a published author! On May 15th, 2022, the ultrarunning legend from Okotoks, AB started running west from St. John’s, NL, followed in the footsteps of his hero Terry Fox, traversed over 7100 kilomet…

Val Schonberg is a Registered and Licensed Dietitian with a master’s degree in nutrition science from the University of Minnesota. She is Board Certified as a Specialist in Sports Dietetics, a Certified Menopause Practitioner with The Menopause Society (previously known as the North American Menopause Society) and a Fellow of the Academy of Nutriti…

Dr. Duane Scotti is a Connecticut-based running physical therapist, run coach, host of the Healthy Runner podcast, and founder of Spark Healthy Runner. He has become a kindred podcast spirit of ours and with this episode has the honor of becoming the first guest we’ve had on the show 3 times! A leader in the rehab and running community for 20+ year…

Amanda Thebe is a Fitness and Women’s Health Expert from Toronto, ON and an affiliated member of the Canadian and North American Menopause Society. She is the author of the Amazon best-selling book, Menopocalypse: How I Learned to Thrive During Menopause and How You Can Too and has nearly 30 years of experience in the fitness industry. As a highly-…

Marina Striker is a 52 year old Education Assistant and ultra trail runner from Agassiz, British Columbia. Although a lifelong runner, she took up trail running 6 years ago and uses running as an outlet to channel her high energy. You first heard Marina on our podcast when we interviewed her with Ihor Verys after Bigs Backyard Ultra in October wher…

Dr. Nese Yuksel is a full Professor with the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the College of Health Sciences at the University of Alberta. She also holds a cross-appointment with Alberta Health Services and has been practicing in the areas of menopause and osteoporosis for nearly 25 years. She is passionate about bringing her clin…

Today Carolyn interviews co-host Kim Sankey about her most recent six day fastpacking trip to Torres del Paine National Park in the Patagonian region of Chile with RunBC - organized by past guest and amazing athlete and human, Jen Segger. It was the trip of a lifetime and Kim has received so many questions about it that she's here to tell us all ab…

Carrie Oswald is a 56-year old postmenopausal woman who underwent a hysterectomy at age 33 for uterine fibroids that were causing constant periods and extreme blood loss. Although her uterus was removed and she no longer had a monthly menstrual cycle, she still has her ovaries and therefore experienced classic perimenopausal symptoms in her mid-to-…

Sasha Gollish is a 42-year old elite middle and long distance runner who holds the masters world record in the indoor mile (4:38.73) and also represented Team Canada in the marathon at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Sasha has been very open on social media about the challenging perimenopausal symptoms she’s been naviga…

Jill Moreash is a 56-year old who is absolutely thriving as a postmenopausal woman. She is a personal trainer and group fitness instructor at Variety Village in Scarborough, Ontario, and she owns & operates a fitness business, Your Wellness Warrior. A lifelong athlete who takes excellent care of herself, Jill figured she would sail through perimeno…

Danny Morin is a 38 year old Clearance Diver with the Canadian Navy who was born in Quebec and now lives in Toronto. Accustomed to striving for high levels of fitness as part of his military training, he became curious back in 2016 to see if he could meet the standard for the Canadian Armed Forces National 5k Running competition in Ottawa. He debut…

Today we’re taking you back to the Divide 200 mile race with ultra trail running best friends Jon Paradowski and Heidi Schmaltz from Saskatchewan, Alberta. The inaugural Divide 200 took place in September 2023 along the Continental Divide in southern Alberta. Jon & Heidi completed a large part of the race together and we wanted to hear about the ra…

Instead of our regular “Couple of the Quarter” episode, we are bringing to you a “Duo of the Quarter.” On Sat, Oct 21 at 7am local time, the individual world championships of backyard ultra running commenced in Bell Buckle, Tennessee. The format sees racers run a 4.17-mile loop, called a “yard” in backyard ultrarunning, within a one-hour time limit…

Ana Laura Fray is a 46 year old who lives North of Toronto now but was born in Mexico and spent the first 23 years of her life there. She also happens to be an exceptional marathon runner and earlier this month on Oct 1st, 2023 she broke her first tape by winning the P’tit Train du Nord Marathon in a blazing time of 2:47:41! P’tit Train is a breath…

Have you ever noticed that runners have their own special language? If you've been running a long time you may not even realize it, but if you are new to the sport or this podcast you know exactly what we mean. You hear people speaking of workouts and zones, hitting the wall and negative splits. Just when you think you’ve got the basic running term…

Scott Cooper is an ultra-trail runner from Toronto although he’s been living in Calgary for the last five years. Prior to moving to Calgary, Scott had an accomplished triathlon career and even spent a year racing professionally. Only three weeks after he moved west, Scott found himself on a Sinister 7 relay team and as he says, “the rest is history…

Brittany Moran is a Toronto-based chiropractor with The Runner’s Academy, a 2:33 marathoner, and the founder of StrideWise Running, a coaching service for runners of all levels. While undergoing a recent rebrand of The Runner’s Academy, Brittany and her team were asked to reflect on what was important to them and it kept coming back to community & …

Ethan Peters is a 25 year old software developer currently living in Fernie, BC. He started his running career at the age of 19 by completing his first official race - that just happened to be a 100 miler! Since then he has excelled in mountain ultramarathons, earning multiple podium finishes amongst elite fields on some very tough courses. Most re…

If you’ve been running for any length of time, we’re going to guess that you’ve dealt with an injury or two along the way and if so, then you’re going to love what today’s guest has to share. Leanne Klassen is a 36 year old runner from Calgary AB, a coach with Skyline Run Coaching, and a 2:42 marathoner, yet at the time of this recording she was wa…

Greg Athayde is a 62 year old runner who was born in Uganda and immigrated to Winnipeg, MB with his family in 1972. He discovered track and cross country in junior high and took part all the way through his years at the University of Manitoba. In his 30s & 40s Greg dabbled in road running and even raced several marathons, but more recently he’s gon…

Rory Linkletter is a professional Canadian athlete who lives and trains in Flagstaff, Arizona, is sponsored by Puma, and is coached by US half marathon record holder, Ryan Hall. At the World Championships marathon on August 27th in Budapest, Hungary, Rory was the top Canadian placing 19th in a season’s best time of 2:12:16. Unfortunately given the …

Tyler Blaney is a husband, father-of-three, and a real estate agent from Calgary AB. He also happens to be a thru hiker turned ultrarunner with a great story. He started running cross country in high school while living in Kelowna, BC and fell in love with his ability to cover great distances in a short period of time and the sense of adventure thi…

Today we’re excited to welcome professional runner Ben Flanagan back to the show! It was about this time last year that we first got to know Ben (episode 95) after he signed his contract with On Running, but during this conversation he delivered an absolute masterclass on everything related to World Championships. Not only is Ben a wealth of knowle…

Kara Leinweber is a trail and mountain runner from Calgary, Alberta where she lives with her husband and two children. In addition to working in the oil & gas sector, Kara is also the owner and race director of Lewiston Ultra Events through which she enjoys hosting trail running events and socials for all levels of runner. Kara is active in both th…

It’s time for another Couple of the Quarter episode! This time we welcome Reinier & Melissa Paauwe from Calgary, Alberta to the show. They are quite the power couple who met at work at a lunch run club. Both have excelled at both cycling & running. Reinier placed second at Canadian Nationals in the Duathlon in 2017 before he ran his first marathon …

Janelle Brade is a running & mindset coach from Calgary, Alberta. She founded her business Motivated in Motion when she became aware of the transformative impact running had on her own life, both physically and personally. Recognizing the immense value it brought, she aspires to share this gift with fellow runners. She firmly believes that anyone, …

Patrick Seymour is a 39 year old oil and gas engineer, mountain runner and proud father of two boys. He lives in Bragg Creek, a quaint little town surrounded by provincial parks, mountains, and trails not far from Calgary, Alberta. Like a true Canadian kid, he has spent his fair share of time on the ice playing hockey, but over the last few years h…

Derek Kaufman is a trail runner and business owner who lives in the beautiful Vancouver Island running local of Comox, BC. He began running in 2017 with the goal of completing a ½ marathon goal and steadily progressed into long distance trail running. Although Derek has experienced races in Utah and Kelowna, he states he absolutely loves running on…

Priscilla Forgie is a trail ultramarathon runner currently living in Edmonton, AB. She discovered running during a period of her life when she felt the need for connection and quickly found the trail running community provided exactly that! A few weeks ago she was the top Canadian and 8th female to cross the finish line at Western States Endurance …

Nancy Gajdosik has been volunteering with the Manitoba Marathon for the past 41 years, nearly as long as the event’s 45 year existence! At this year’s Manitoba Runners’ Association Hall of Fame Banquet, she was honoured as the very first recipient of the Excellence in Volunteering Award, where she brought many in the crowd to tears with her heartfe…

Angela Maciocia is a soon-to-be 48-year-old masters runner from just outside of Montreal, QC. On May 27th she competed in the elite field of the Ottawa 10K, which also served as our Canadian Championships. Alongside Olympians and international level athletes, Angela was proud to be the oldest runner in the field and one of only eight women over the…

Jamie Nott is a 48 year old mountain trail ultra-runner and father-of-three from Calgary, Alberta. He is a Senior Safety Codes Officer in Rocky View County and Race Director for Iron Legs Mountain Races and Racing Dusk. He was inspired to host these races as a way to showcase the amazing trails in and around the Elbow Valley and Bragg Creek and pro…

Robyn Penner is a 42 year old runner and Mom of two young children ages 4 and 1. She took a much longer and more thoughtful approach with her return to postpartum running after baby #2 and it really seems to be paying off. She is coming off one of the most brilliantly executed half marathons in Fargo and is now gearing up to run the Chicago Maratho…

Today we are pleased to welcome Laura Sherrer-Townsend to the show. Laura is a 48 year old #motherrunner of 5 children ages 10-18. She has a history in social work, currently operates her own business and is the founder and race director of Survivorfest, a 24 hour running event in Sherwood Park, Alberta where she also resides. Always a woman on the…

Jenny Quilty is a 34 year old running coach and ultra runner from Abbotsford, BC where she lives with her partner Matt and their 2 dogs. Jenny and her friend & business partner Katrina started their coaching company Pacific Pine Running Co. in 2018. At this time she was practicing as an occupational therapist, but left her OT job in 2021 to coach a…

Meet our Couple of the Quarter, Bo Huang & Mingdi Zhao, who recently celebrated their 29th wedding anniversary at the 2023 Boston Marathon where they both finished with personal bests. Bo crossed the line in 3:13 and Mingdi ran 3:34, which requalifies them by over 21 and 30 minutes, respectively, for their upcoming 55 age category should they wish …

Jen Segger is a FORCE. She has spent the last 20+ years travelling the globe competing as a world class adventure racing athlete and ultra runner. For decades she has pushed her body and mind to the extremes, exploring her true potential and going beyond what she thought was previously possible. Jen shares her experiences and knowledge with those t…