My Active Lifetime features articles from runners, coaches and health professionals involved in running. We hope to help you get the most from running and from your life.
Oak Island Marathon 2023
Just after new year's 2023, I saw an ad for what looked like a really fun marathon in Oak Island, North Carolina. I know that I had the 2023 Coast Guard Marathon just 2 weeks after Oak Island, but I thought it would make a really fun way to do my last long run before…
2022 Coast Guard Marathon
The Coast Guard Marathon came on the scene in 2022 with an inaugural run. The event features a full marathon, half marathon and a 5K providing a race for all abilities and inclinations. The event takes place in the small waterfront town of Elizabeth City where the Pasquotank River joins Albemarle Sound which is itself…
Marine Corps Marathon 2022
In October 2022 my dream of running in the Marine Corps Marathon finally came true! Having gained my access granted ticket at the Marine Corps 17.75K trail race I registered knowing it would be hard to get the training right in the Virginia summer heat. Mercedes and I did one of our usual run tourism…
The Canadian Death Race
The Canadian Death Race in Grande Cache, Alberta has a long storied history stretching over 20 amazing years.
Niagara Falls International Marathon
In all my years of running marathons and all sorts of other distances, I had never run the Niagara Falls International Marathon. It's been on my radar ever since high school when back in my graduating year of 1981, my cross country and track coach Dave Knox ran a 2:23 in what was then called…
Ultra Africa Run 2017
I always find it amazing how sometimes a few short days, hours or even minutes can imprint in your memory so intensely and other days and weeks go by and it feels like nothing has changed. Time is so relative. These past few weeks I know will stay with me for a lifetime. The adventure…
Stride Inside 6 Hour Indoor Track Race
My first race of 2018 ended up being an indoor track race. With Canadian winters being as harsh as they are for runners I thought that the relative comfort of running indoors would be a welcome relief from the bitter cold and slippery conditions. Having met the race director Jeff Rowthorn at a 50K trail…
Running in Kenya
As a race director and lifelong runner who coaches Kenyan athletes remotely it has always been a dream of mine to run in Kenya. There is something very compelling about going to the country that has the reputation of being home to the fastest humans on the planet. In May of 2017 through some twists…
Sinister 7 – 2016 Third Time is the Charm!
In July 2016 after 2 failed attempts I finally finished this race which truly lives up to it's Sinister name. More than just a race this was a 2 week trip of epic proportions with my friend Marc. It was a reunion with my western ultra running family. These are the crazy people who run these…
92.2 km Running Weekend!
The year 2016 threw a slight curve my way when the first weekend in May ended up being the 1st of May. A really excellent trail race I love to run called Pick your Poison which is usually a weekend before the Goodlife Fitness Toronto Marathon ended up being the day before the marathon! This…
Running the Rideau Trail from Kingston to Ottawa
A few weeks ago I was cheerfully enjoying the kind of easy running that comes after a long hard season in which I ran 6 ultra trail races. This restful time was soon shattered when my friend Noel Paine posted an idea on Facebook about doing something epic to celebrate his 40th birthday. That something…
Haliburton Forest 100 Mile Trail Race
haliburton Forest Race Report The weather on Friday night was picture perfect for running. We pitched our tents taking care to kick the horse poop out of the way. It’s like a tradition and it’s bad luck to not play a little horse soccer. It was like visiting my long lost tribe. Those amazing people who…
The North Face Endurance Challenge Blue Mountain Ontario
Growing up in Collingwood, Ontario was like an amazing adventure with so many active things to do. With the ski hill formed by the Niagara Escarpment and it’s huge network of hiking trails, Georgian Bay and all the other opportunities for fitness it was and is a great place to live. So when the North Face…
Summer Ultra Training
With the North Face Gore-tex 50 mile race looming 10 days out I’ve been peaking with my training and moved on to a gradual taper. It’s all about staying fresh and moving from now till the race. The buildup for a trail ultra works like the buildup for any other race except the quantity of…
2XU Thermal Compression Tights
Winter running is absolutely essential if a runner has any intentions of competing in events during the spring season. Even if you are not competitive but want to stay fit over the winter with various outdoor activities including running, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, you need the appropriate garments! You need to stay warm but not too warm because…
TRAIL RUNNING DREAM & TRAIL RUNNING WIPPTAL CAMP
TRAIL RUNNING DREAM and TRAIL RUNNING WIPPTAL CAMP has come to the end…It’s amazing how 6 days can be a formation of new made incredible friendships..and family…laughter and blazin good times…and memories and pictures to last ongoing…I am sad to leave this group as they all have been amazing and always when I think back to…
Haliburton 50 mile race report…”Chicken Soup”
Well I have to start talking about chicken soup because I’ve finally found this is the food I need to run long well. I’m not talking about the the boxed broth with no sodium added gluten free blah blah blah, I’m talking about the kind your granny made you boiling all the fat and marrow…
Dirty Girls 12 Hour Trail Race
The Dirty Girls 12 hour trail race is one of 3 events on the weekend of August 8, 9, 10, 2014, the other two being 24 and 48 hours! The race is located at Mansfield Ontario, Canada at an outdoor recreation centre that features an 8 kilometer forest loop trail with roots, rocks, sand and…
Bruce Trail Warrior
I recently had the pleasure and honor to spend a full day as a running guide for the amazing blind trail runner Rhonda Marie Avery. If you thought you read that wrong I can assure you she really is a blind trail runner! Rhonda decided to tackle one of the toughest trails in Ontario Canada,…
Sinister 7 – 100 Mile Ultra Marathon Run
Here is the play by play of what happened written the morning after: Just woke up after arriving at my tent at 4:30am. This is a beast that changes every year and you never know what you are going to get. I’m completely drained. This year it was the hottest most humid Sinister 7 ever!…
TRANSVULCANIA LA PALMA Week 2014
Finished with a smile, and a fat plate of PAELLA!!! Flight back from La Palma..4 hours was a flash as I reminisced with Jan and Vanessa beside about the race we had and yes everything that goes with it.Another TRANSVULCANIA come and gone. I love to sit and feel what went on in a week…once…
Visualizing Success to Reach your Goals
We all have goals and dreams in our lives that we hope to reach. Some of us are more successful at reaching them than others. What makes this so? How are some people able to consistently reach their goals and keep coming back to try again if they don’t? I believe the answer lies in…
Toronto Marathon Weekend 2014
The Goodlife Fitness Toronto Marathon is the premier Toronto race in my books. The route, the organization, the spectators, the entertainment, basically everything is top notch. Of course I admit I’m biased based on the fact that I’m the race director of the Collingwood Half Marathon & 10K, a sister race of this one! Still…
Pick your Poison 12.5k, 25k, 50k Trail Race
Saturday April 26th I had the pleasure and pain of participating in the Pick your Poison trail race. The race took place at the Heights of Horseshoe at Horseshoe Valley in Ontario, Canada. It’s aptly named Pick your Poison because you can pick 12.5km, 25km or 50km which equals 1, 2 or 4 times around…
Find Your True Self – Mountain Ultra Running
I recently had one of the most intensely difficult, painful, draining yet joyous, moving experiences of my life. On July 6th, 2013 I participated in the Sinister 7 Mountain Trail Race. (www.sinister7.com) It really is sinister and yes you really do feel all those sensations and emotions over it’s 148km distance. As if that distance…
Trans-Alpine Trail Race 2013
The Gore-Tex Trans-Alpine Run is an 8 day stage trail race in the Alps, beginning in Germany in Oberstdorf and making it’s way via via Austria into northern Italy. It’s punishing with 13,730 metres of vertical change and 293 km of distance. It is a 2 person team event. Day 1: Well, Team Livin Adventure…
Great Lakes Running
I had the unusual pleasure of running on thick ice for 12 kilometres on Georgian Bay several weeks ago! It’s normally one of my favorite kayak routes more suited to my 14 foot Necky kayak but lately with a record breaking 90% of the great lakes covered in ice it’s been trail running shoes. The…
Finding the Correct Running Shoe for the Job!
Running can be such sweet joy or agony if our feet are not in a happy place. Choosing the correct shoe for the type of running can be just as important as choosing the correct shoe for your particular physiology. There are millions of opinions about shoes. Currently we are seeing a trend towards minimal…