Natasha Wodak and Justin Kent are your 10K Canadian champions
The virtual day-long race took place over Canada Day, with nearly 50 elites participating
Hi all-
I hope you had a great Canada Day and are hanging in there during this pandemic summer.
Today’s issue has the results from the Canada Day 10K national championships, some time trial results from other elite Canadian runners and some more to read and think about when it comes to race and racism in sports.
Let’s get to it.
— Erin @ Run the North
Canadian 10K championships were held virtually on Canada Day
On Canada Day, the Ottawa marathon organized the Canadian 10K road championships as a virtual race. Runners who met the eligibility requirements could log a 10K race, provide a GPS file and video proof, and they would have been considered “entered” in the race.
In the end, 32 runners participated.
Natasha Wodak and Justin Kent were the day’s top runners. Natasha ran 32:41 to claim the women’s title and Justin ran 28:52.
Natasha was the 10K champion in 2019. She’s also the Canadian 10,000m record holder and ran the 10,000m at the world championships, was on Canada’s world championship cross-country team and won gold in the 10,000m at the 2019 PanAm Games in Peru. She kicked off 2020 by breaking the Canadian half-marathon record and becoming the first Canadian woman to run under 70 minutes at that distance, but held that record for less than a month.
Justin is a 27-year-old runner from Burnaby, B.C., where he is also a coach with Mile2Marathon. His breakthrough cam last year at the Vancouver Sun Run, when he outkicked Trevor Hofbauer to break the tape. In college, he ran at the University of British Columbia. Justin talked about that race on an episode of the Mile2Marathon podcast with Dylan Wykes (who is a Mile2Marathon co-founder and the elite athlete coordinator for Ottawa Rae Weekend and coordinated the virtual championships). He also represented Canada as a member of the mixed relay team at the world cross-country championships last year.
Justin’s time of 28:52 is the first time he’s run 10K under 29 minutes and is a PB.
There was prize money for the top 5 of each gender. Additionally, the Ottawa marathon would donate the equivalent of the runners’ prize money to an official race charity of their choice.
The top 5 men were:
Justin Kent, 28:52 ($500 | Canadian Cancer Society)
Luc Bruchet, 29:17 ($400 | SchoolBOX)
Caleb DeJong, 29:35 ($300 | Diabetes Canada)
Blair Morgan, 29:49 ($200 | OCISO)
Ben Preisner, 29:54 ($100 | Lung Cancer Canada)
The top 5 women were:
Natasha Wodak, 32:41 ($500 | ALS Society of Canada)
Rachel Cliff, 33:35 ($400 | Cystic Fibrosis Canada)
Natasha Labeaud, 34:25 ($300 | Canadian Celiac Association)
Lindsay Carson, 34:38 ($200 | Habitat for Humanity)
Hannah Woodhouse, 35:41 ($100, Canadian Cancer Society)
You can see the complete results here.
Canadian track & field athletes talk racism with CBC Sports
CBC Sports put together a panel of athletes — middle-distance runner Brandon McBride, sprinter Aaron Brown, decathlete Damian Warner, sprinter Khamica Bingham, long jumper Christabel Nettey, and middle-distance runner Melissa Bishop-Nriagu — to talk about their experiences with racism in sport with runner-turned-CBC-journalist Anson Henry.
It’s a long article and the panel was broken up into four videos that are about seven minutes each, but it’s worth watching each one.
They cover police interaction, political protests at sporting events, microaggressions, representation in the media and the importance of athletes speaking out. They share stories of encountering racial slurs, hateful messages being sent on social media, speculate why Christabel — one of the top long jumpers in the world — is barely known in Canada, discuss the intersection of sponsorship opportunities and racism, reflect on being Black in mostly white spaces and how that shifts in track & field and discuss raising Black kids and what they hope the future holds.
“Enough is enough,” Anson says in the first one.
You can watch all four videos here.
This panel pairs well with this piece from SportsNet by David Singh about what it’s like being an athlete who has to discuss being Black and representing an entire race He talks to baseball players and hockey players, but it’s a worthwhile read on representation and asking athletes to be experts on race and identity simply because they are Black:
“If you only talk to a Black person about a Black situation, then it’s going to be very difficult to look at anything else,” says [Curtis] Granderson, who officially retired from MLB in late January. “I hope that if there is a topic that affects anybody of any race or ethnicity, you go talk to people you want to talk to, no matter who that person is, no matter what their colour is. Don’t just talk to the white player because it’s a white issue. Don’t just talk to the Black player because it’s a Black issue.
“There are players that could be affected by the situation, but you won’t know unless you ask them.”
Running magazine covers are really, really white
The Keeping Track podcast partnered with two Canadian researchers, Dr. Francine Darroch from Carleton University and Dr. Heather Hillsburg who currently works for the British Columbia government, to look at representation (or lack of) in running media.
They examined 284 covers from Runner’s World, Canadian Running and Women’s Running from 2009 to 2019, looking at race and gender.
Their findings? Yeah, running covers are really, really white.
During that period, only 14.8% of Runner’s World covers featured Black, Indigenous or other runners of colour.
Women’s Running got the best score, with 31% of covers featuring BIPOC runners, with a noted improvement after 2013.
Canadian Running got the worst score (by a hair), with only 14.75% of covers featuring BIPOC runners. In 2011 and 2013, Canadian Running did not feature ANY BIPOC runners on their covers.
Canadian sprinter Khamica Bingham shared a story relevant to this in the CBC Sports panel on race and racism that I shared above. She won the 100m national championship in 2015, earning the title of fastest Canadian women and booked her ticket to the 2016 Olympics.
She doesn’t name the publication, but was offered a cover story, and then that was rescinded. She shares this story at 1:18 in this CBC Sports video.
The 26-year-old from Brampton, Ont., said she was approached by a running magazine to be its cover athlete after her 2015 victory. However, the magazine later came back to Bingham and told her she didn't fit their look.
“Internally I was like, ‘Well, why did I not fit the look?’ I kind of internalized that as my complexion, because I was darker. And I just found this trend that we were left out, we were neglected in terms of beauty in the colour spectrum,” Bingham said.
“It's like if you're lighter, it's like, ‘OK, you're still Black, you're beautiful.’ And then I found if you were on the darker side of the spectrum, it was like, 'We're not comfortable going there. We don't feel like we could market as well.’”
Canadian Running’s past two issues in 2020 have featured Black men on the cover: sprinter Andre De Grasse was on the May/June cover and distance runner Moh Ahmed is on the current July/August cover.
You can listen to the Keeping-Track episode about this report here.
You can see the full report here.
Canada Running Series has a video Q&A series called Runner’s Hi
In the wake of the pandemic, Canada Running Series launched a Facebook interview series called Runner’s Hi. Over the course of the past three months:
Steve Fleck talked to Canada Running Series founder and president Alan Brookes and Boston Marathon director Dave McGillivary about race cancellations (this Q&A was posted after Boston got postponed but before it got cancelled), virtual races and how they are trying to keep the running community connected during COVID.
Dr. Greg Wells, a performance psychologist, was featured to talk about the importance of recovery and recharging, especially during a time like now when training might not be so focused, there’s more stress in our lives and we might have more time to run.
Toronto city councillor Mike Layton was on to discuss the closing of streets in Toronto, an initiative called #ActiveTO, and the importance of getting outside and keeping fit during COVID. They also talked about Mike’s own running and the role the city plays in putting on races.
Anne Woolger is the executive director of Matthew House, an organization that works with refugees who have come to Canada. Matthew House is a charity that is part of the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon charity challenge. Anne also talks about some of the refugees she worked with who have found purpose and community through running.
Kate Van Buskirk talked to Toronto runner Eric Bang about the importance of LGBTQ+ representation and inclusion in running.
You can follow the series and catch future videos on the Canada Running Series Facebook page.
The conversations are good and tackle this moment in racing and the running community. But of the eight guests and two hosts on the series so far, only Bang is not white. I feel that this should be pointed out, especially considering the theme of this issue is shaping up so far to be race and representation.
Canada’s top public health expert, Dr. Theresa Tam, is a runner
Canada’s top public health official, Dr. Theresa Tam, has become a household name over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. And now she’s gracing her first magazine cover: the latest issue of iRun.
In the Q&A, she talks about how she got into running, how running has shaped her life and offers advice to athletes during the pandemic. (Her take: it’s safe to run outside, but follow physical distancing rules, avoid busy routes and stay up to date on the latest public health recommendations).
MS: Has running helped you in your work or has your work helped you in your running?
TT: I’m someone who likes to have a goal — a target to aim for, and reaching that goal is a tremendous feeling. It’s not just about getting to the end, it’s the journey that matters and that’s the same with so many aspects of life: whether managing an outbreak or pacing yourself appropriated in a race. Slow down a bit when you need to. Make sure you’re hydrating. And if you hit a bit of a wall, have patience and compassion for yourself to get past it. You have to believe you will reach that finish line. It’s a journey we take in all aspects of life.
Mount Allison University graduates get their diplomas via special delivery
Graduations for schools from preschool all the way to universities were cancelled in the wake of COVID-19. In Sackville, N.B., the president of Mount Allison University, Jean-Paul Boudreau, decided to personally deliver the diplomas to 18 local students, covering about 20K in the process on June 19.
At each stop, he donned his president’s gown and/or posed for a photo with the student, if they were home and up for it.
He spoke to Canadian Running about why:
“This is a difficult time right now and this was a nice opportunity to do something good,” he says. “This class is experiencing unprecedented times. We did an online presentation of degrees for the class of 2020. There were student valedictorians and speeches. It was viewed on YouTube and Facebook over 9,000 times. I thought this would be a nice touch to hand-deliver degrees where possible. Running was the best way I knew how.”
You can now run around the Great Lakes, virtually of course
The latest virtual race is one where you can circumnavigate the Great Lakes. You can sign up to run around just one lake or take on the challenge of running all five.
Lake Superior: 563K
Lake Erie: 388K
Lake Ontario: 310K
Lake Michigan: 494K
Lake Huron: 332K
Which makes the total distance 2,087 kilometres.
With this challenge, you can run it when you want, there’s no map to track your progress or a deadline to hit the distance by.
A portion of these proceeds will be donated to Swim Drink Fish, a non-profit organization that preserves and protests the Great Lakes.
Some time trial results
The Bowerman Track Club held a team-only meet at their track in Oregon. Canadian Moh Ahmed trains with the team and he ran 3:39.84 in the 1,500m, finally breaking his curse of having never run sub 3:40 at that distance. It’s something he talks about in the feature article of the latest issue of Canadian Running (which is currently not available online). All the races are posted and YouTube and you can watch Moh’s race here.
Regan Yee ran a huge personal best and the Olympic standard in the 5,000m when she clocked a 15:08 at a time trial in Vancouver. The race also featured Scottish runner Sarah Inglis and Canadians Natasha Wodak and Natalia Hawthorn, with Sarah and Natalia also dropping personal bests of 15:15 and 15:30, respectively.
Tristan Woodfine ran 25:13 in his virtual Spring Run-Off 8K. He found a rolling route to mimic the difficult hills you usually find when the race is in high Park in Toronto.
Strides: podcasts, news and links to check out
👟 Donnovan Bennett, a Black sports journalist with SportsNet, wrote about what it’s like being one of the few Black journalists who cover sports in Canada. He doesn’t regularly cover running or track, but the piece is excellent and worth your time, as it pertains to how we cover sports in this country, and who gets to tell those stories:
Odds are your local newspaper doesn’t have a Black sports reporter. Your national newspaper of choice definitely doesn’t. The beat reporters for every Canadian team in every league are almost all white. You will not find a Black voice hosting a sports talk show on your radio dial. You won’t see a Black person on the board or executive leadership team of a major Canadian sports media company. Kayla Grey became the first Black woman in Canadian history to host a national sports highlight program in 2018 — just two years ago. And since Morgan Campbell left the Toronto Star, I’ve been the only Black national sports journalist with the freedom to give my opinion written into my job description — with the autonomy to write a story like this one. The radio hosts, columnists and TV talking heads that shape views and dictate narratives in this country are all white. And it’s not any better behind the scenes.
Thirteen years into my career, I’ve never been managed by a Black person, assigned a story by a Black person or had a story I wrote edited by a Black person. I’ve never worked on a show produced or directed by a Black person, either.
👟 Because the RBC Training Ground program — the one that identifies and then trains future Olympians, such as decathlete Pierce LePage — has been cancelled due to COVID, RBC turned the money ($230,000) it would have spent on the program into grants for sports organizations to give directly to athletes or to run virtual training programs.
👟In Krista DuChene’s latest column for iRun, she reflects on what she’s learned during the pandemic:
Grieving is ok. While I believe I am an optimist, I have my down moments. I find afternoons particularly dreary and boring with very little to do compared to our slower than usual morning and evening routines. While I’ve certainly missed racing, I’ve found myself struggling more with the losses my children have faced—my daughter’s first overnight hockey tournament was cancelled, my 12-year-old son missed swimming at regionals, and my 14-year-old son didn’t get to compete in his final track & field day or get a formal grade 8 graduation ceremony. I also wonder if I’ve seen my final days of competing as a professional at international and competitive marathons as we’ve known them. I can and will only choose to be grateful for what my children and I have accomplished. While I may not get my 20th marathon in 2020, I can live with the hope that I will be back on that start line with everyone else, looking back on this as a memory.
👟 The B.C. paper the Province caught up with Rachel Cliff. She talks about how she’s dealing with COVID, why she signed up for the virtual 10K championships and what it was like to not make the 2016 Olympic team, when her husband did:
“It’s tough to know — did you get through something because you’re strong or did it make you stronger?” explained Cliff, whose husband has retired from competing but remains entrenched in the sport as the track and field technical manager for B.C. Athletics. “There’s definitely some skills that I learned from going through that, and I think one of the big ones is knowing when not to engage in certain thoughts.
“It’s about acknowledging that something will bother you but you don’t let yourself go down that path. I could do the pity party about what happened in 2016 and now a global pandemic in 2020, but I’m aware that I don’t need to go there.
“That’s been very important for me in this pandemic. Of course, we’ll actually see whether it’s worked a year from now. You can mark me then, I guess.”
👟 Women’s Running profiled American middle-distance runner Shelby Houlihan and how she’s handling the pandemic.
👟 The podcast The 158 had Toronto runner Aristotle Domingo on the show. Aristotle is a double amputee and frequent racer and his story is an interesting and inspiring one. He fell into a coma in 2001 and struggled with health issues for over a decade afterward, finally deciding to amputate both his legs — one in 2017 and the second in 2019. After that, he became a runner and regular racer, public speaker and founder of the Amputee Coalition of Toronto.
👟 Not running, but the Chronicle Herald, the provincial paper in Nova Scotia, profiled shotputter Sarah Mitton. Sarah grew up in Nova Scotia but trains now in Toronto and is aiming to make her first Olympic team in 2020(1).
That’s it for this week!
Thanks so much for reading and for being interested in running news at a time when there isn’t a lot of racing and a lot of other really important things going on in the world.
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Run the North comes out on Monday mornings.
Stay safe, keep on running and I’ll see you next week.