This issue is dedicated to Tom Longboat and Black Canadian runners
Hello,
This week’s issue has two major focuses: the first is on Tom Longboat, the great Iroquois runner who won the Boston marathon in 1908 and to this day is probably the best long-distance runner Canada ever had.
The second focus is on racism in the running community. If you want to do more in your anti-racism work, there are some articles to read and Black Canadian athletes to follow on social media to check out.
Thanks for much for reading, and for sticking with the newsletter as we continue to live in a time with so much uncertainty and without any races or real running news.
I hope you’re staying safe, taking care of yourself, and doing your part to end police brutality, white supremacy and to flatten the curve and end the COVID-19 pandemic.
If you want to reach out for any reason, you can email me at runthenorthnews@gmail.com.
Let’s get to it.
— Erin @Run the North
Remembering Tom Longboat, Canada’s greatest runner and an Indigenous icon
June 4 was Tom Longboat Day in Ontario.
The day was declared as such in 2008, when Ontario’s provincial government decided to dedicate a day to one of Canada’s most prolific long-distance runners.
It is not an official holiday nor is it recognized by any other province.
June 4 was chosen because the Ontario government believed it was his birthday, according to TomLongboat.ca. His birthday was, in fact, July 4.
June is also National Indigenous History Month in Canada.
Tom Longboat was Onondaga, born on Six Nations Reserve, near Brantford, Ont. in 1887. His Iroquois name was Cogwagee.
When he was 12 years old he was taken from his family farm and forced to attend Mohawk Institute Residential School. He attempted escape multiple times before finally succeeding and seeking refuge with his uncle. He ended up in Toronto, where it was quickly realized he was a talented runner. He won Around the Bay 30K — a race in Hamilton that has the distinction of being older than the Boston Marathon — in 1906. In 1907, he won the Boston marathon (which was then 24.5 miles, not 26.2) in a record time of 2:24:24.
From a 2007 Globe and Mail article about Tom:
Time has struck down most who would remember Longboat, but nothing erodes his legend. He braved sleet, driving rain and bitter cold winds to win that year in 2 hours 24 minutes 24 seconds, a Boston record by almost five minutes and a time that still would rank him 27th among 20,000 runners last year.
In the course of the 1907 race, he had to beat a freight train to a level crossing. Most remarkable: After running a punishing 25 miles, Longboat, six weeks before his 20th birthday, showed a mature runner's power and endurance to gallop the last mile in 4:45, when the world record for the mile was 4:15. The Boston Globe heralded Longboat as "the most marvellous runner who has sped over our roads."
He would break every Canadian running record from the mile to the marathon over the course of his career.
In 1908, he would compete in the marathon at the Olympics in London — the first marathon to officially be 26.2 miles. He held a large lead for most of the race, but collapsed and did not finish, as did several other competitors. It’s believed they ere given some sort of stimulant, causing the mass DNFs.
His running career after that was inconsistent, plagued by knee and back problems. In 1911, he was arrested in Toronto for drunkenness. And racism impacted public opinion of Tom and his legacy.
When the First World War broke out, he enlisted and served as a dispatch runner in France. After the war, he worked in Toronto until he retired in 1944. Then he moved to the reserve where he was born, where he lived until he died in 1949.
“His story is literally everything,” says [Tracie] Leost, a 19-year-old Metis runner from Treaty 1 territory in Manitoba. “For one, he was a residential school survivor and then won the Boston Marathon and went on to join the Canadian Army. At that time, Indigenous Peoples were not even considered humans. In 1906, Indigenous Peoples would still be forced into residential school for another 90 years. So, running is one thing, but then winning the Boston Marathon as an indigenous person after going through something so horrific is something you never hear about.”
In 1951, awards were established in his honour to recognize Indigenous athletes. They are awarded annually to this day.
Tom was inducted into the Canadian Sport Hall of Fame in 1984.
To learn more about Tom Longboat and the history of Indigenous athletes in Canada and how racist and oppressive policies and practices have shaped Canadian sport today, check out the book Reclaiming Tom Longboat by Janice Forsyth.
The History Slam podcast dedicated their episode this week to Tom Longboat and talked to Janice about the book.
You can also learn more at the website Tom Longboat.ca.
Gary Robbins launches summer scavenger hunt running challenge
If you still haven’t found the right virtual summer running challenge, maybe Gary Robbins’ summer scavenger hunt is the one for you.
Between June 8 and Sept. 16, you have 100 days to complete 30 unique running challenges like a sunrise run, GPS art run, vertical climb and more (or so I think, this is based solely on the buttons because specific challenge details aren’t public yet).
$10 from each entry will go to trail maintenance organizations in B.C. Registrants will get an IRL scavenger hunt package in addition to a virtual portal to track their challenge.
Entry is $75. If you’re interested, you can sign up here.
June 3 was Global Running Day, #CanadaMoves goes quiet to amplify other voices
June 3 was Global Running Day. It’s normally a day runners come together and celebrate, well, running, but thanks to the pandemic and the anti-racism and Black Lives Matter protests around the world, Global Running Day in 2020 had a different vibe.
In Canada, 16 of the country’s biggest races came together to do a virtual run and online events to raise money for Canadian Mental Health Association. So far they have raised more than $27,000. I wrote about it in last week’s issue.
They were all going to do Facebook lives across the country, one per province from east to west, but decided to cancel this programming “to create space for minority voices that need to be heard.”
Instead, the participating races posted resources and accounts to follow for people looking for tools to learn more about anti-racism and white supremacy.
More to read, listen and follow to work on anti-racism in running and beyond
👟Sam Effah wrote an essay for Canadian Running about what it’s like running while black. Sam is a two-time national champion in the 100m and has represented Canada at three world championships. He recently was one-half of the runner-up team on the Amazing Race.
I love track, because when I’m in the starting blocks, I have my own lane and my result is directly correlated to the efforts I’ve put forth in training. I control whether I win a medal, I am responsible for the races I lose and I am accountable for the injuries. Runners are judged by quantitative measures – which don’t discriminate. If you run the qualifying time and earn a place on the podium, you make the team.
In contrast, off the track I’m passionate about community development, mentorship and marketing – and I’ve had to prove myself more times than I can count. Why is it so difficult, as a black man, to be viewed as more than an athlete?
👟 American distance runner Marielle Hall wrote about her career and being black in running for Runner’s World. It includes why she chose to go to the University of Texas for college, instead of a school with a better running program, how she felt when she watched the video of Ahmaud Arbery’s murder and her day-to-day life as an elite athlete in a sport that’s really white:
I was looking for an opportunity to be in a more diverse and more inclusive environment. I was at an age, and time in my life, where I was seeking growth, and you do that by having a variety of people and experiences you are exposed to.
I didn’t want to deal any longer with microaggressions of well-meaning friends reminding me that classmates were only asking me out not because I was desirable, but because they were curious about what a “black girl would be like” or teachers looking to me to give the “black perspective” on Huckleberry Finn. When I went to visit Texas, I saw the possibility of having a black roommate, a black female head coach, and a community where it wouldn’t be a struggle to maintain a sense of self and identity, because I saw myself reflected in my peers.
👟Runner’s World also shared a piece about how you can be a better ally in the running community:
In the running community, this looks like doing whatever you would do outside of the running community to ensure equitable and inclusive practices, Valerio explained. For example, make sure your running group is representative of its community, and if it’s not, have the hard conversations to examine why.
👟Women’s Running covered a Facebook Live with three Black run crew leaders in American running — Rahsaan Rogers, A D.C. run crew leader, Matt Green, and Amir Figuero — about what we can do next. The conversation covered the role of running brands, mental health and wellness and representation in non-elite running:
Rogers started running with his dad when he was a kid, but remembers he was almost always the only black boy running in local 5Ks and other events.
“There was nobody who looked like me,” he said, adding, “it was a very white, male, middle-aged sport back in the day.”
The bright spot? Anecdotally Rogers see improvement from his younger days, though at the elite level, the statistics for American distance running still lag (for example, the New York Times reported in February that of nearly 500 women who were competing at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials, 92 percent were white).
20 Black Canadian runners to follow on social media
There has been a surge online of people seeking out Black voices in whatever communities they are interested and invested in: fashion, wellness, activism, literature, and more. Fast Women did a series of IG stories highlighting elite Black American and international female runners to follow.
In that same spirit, here are 20 Black Canadian runners you should follow on Instagram.
Perdita Felicien
Perdita Felicien is a two-time world champion in the hurdles and represented Canada in the 2004 Olympics. She is now a sports analyst and broadcaster who frequently appears on CBC. She’s been very outspoken about the issues of anti-Black racism and white supremacy in recent weeks.
Her memoir, My Mother’s Daughter, was supposed to come out this year to coincide with the 2020 Olympics. It has been postponed to March 2021. It’s available to pre-order on Amazon and most independent bookstores.
Phylicia George
Phylicia George is a 32-year-old hurdler and bobsledder from Markham, Ont. She is one of 11 Canadian athletes who have successfully competed in both the winter and summer Olympics.
She competed in the hurdles at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games. She won a bronze medal as Kaillie Humphries’ bobsled teammate at the 2018 Olympics.
Brandon McBride
Brandon McBride is an 25-year-old middle-distance runner from Windsor, Ont.. He holds the Canadian record in the 800m. He spent his NCAA career at Mississippi State University, where he won the NCAA 800m title twice. He represented Canada at the 2016 Olympics and the 2017 and 2019 world championships.
Andre De Grasse
Andre De Grasse is Canada’s biggest sprinting star. The 25-year-old from Scarborough, Ont., broke out at the 2016 Olympics, where he won three medals — silver in the 200m and bronze in the 100m and 4x100m relay — and got a lot of attention for being able to go head-to-head with Usain Bolt. He holds the Canadian 200m national record.
Andre has struggled with injury since then, but has been on the comeback trail, winning bronze in the 100m and silver in the 200m at the 2019 world championships in Doha.
Crystal Emmanuel
Crystal Emmanuel brands herself as “Canada’s fastest woman.” The 28-year-old from Scarborough, Ont., holds the Canadian record in the 200m and has been the national champion in both the 100m and 200m. She competed for Canada in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.
Marco Arop
Marco Arop is a 21-year-old from Edmonton. He spent a year in the NCAA system, running for Mississippi State.
He set the Canadian indoor 800m record at an NCAA meet and won the 800m gold at the 2019 PanAm Games in Peru, and is now a pro. He was on Canada’s world championship team, running the 800m in Doha last year.
Justyn Knight
Justyn Knight is an 23-year-old distance runner from Toronto. He spent his NCAA career at Syracuse University, where he won the NCAA cross-country championships in 2017, and now is a pro training with the Reebok Boston Track Club. He holds the Canadian indoor 1,500m national record and was on the 2017 and 2019 world championship teams.
Moh Ahmed
Moh Ahmed is a 29-year-old distance runner from St. Catharines. Moh focuses on the 5,000m and 10,000m and holds the Canadian record in both. At the world championships this past fall, he won Canada’s first medal in a distance event when he claimed bronze in the 5,000m. He currently trains in Portland, Oregon, with the Bowerman Track Club.
Sam Effah
Sam Effah is a 31-year-old sprinter from Calgary. He’s a two-time Canadian champion in the 200m and represented Canada at the world championships three times. He also competed on seventh season of the Amazing Race Canada with hurdler Sarah Wells.
Damian Warner
Damian Warner is a 30-year-old decathlete from London, Ont. He’s one of the best decathletes in the world, having won bronze at the 2013, 2015 and 2019 world championships and the 2016 Olympics, silver at the 2015 world championships and gold at the 2015 and 2019 PanAm Games.
Kat Surin
Kat Surin has gotten a lot of media attention for being the daughter of Canadian sprinting legend Bruny Surin, but she’s rapidly making a name for herself in the sport. The 24-year-old from Laval, Que., recently graduated from the University of Connecticut, and made her first world championship team in 2019, running the 4x400m relays.
Aiyanna Stiverne
Aiyanna Stiverneis a 25-year-old sprinter from Laval, Que. She spent her NCAA career at the University of Miami in Florida. She was on Canada’s world championship team in 2017, competing in the 400m. In 2019, she was on Canada’s world championship 4x400m mixed relay team, which set the national record in the event. She won her first international medals at the 2018 NACAC championships, taking silver in the 400m and bronze in the 4x400m.
Gavin Smellie
Gavin Smellie is a 33-year-old sprinter from Etobicoke, Ont. He was the national champion in the 100m in 2014. He was on the 2012 Olympic 4x100m relay team — the team that thought they won bronze, but was disqualified for a lane violation. He also represented Canada at the 2013 world championships, winning bronze in the 4x100m relay.
Brendon Rodney
Brendon Rodney is an 28-year-old sprinter from Etobicoke, Ont. He was a member of the 4x100m relay team that won bronze at the 2016 Olympics and the 2015 world championships. He’s represented Canada on the relay teams and as an individual sprinter several times, including the 2015, 2017 and 2019 world championships.
Philip Osei
Philip Osei is a 29-year-old sprinter from Toronto. He’s represented Canada several times on the international stage, including the NACAC championships, the Commonwealth Games, the PanAm Games and the IAAF World Relays. He’s a two-time 400m national champion. He just missed qualifying for the 2016 Olympics and has his eyes on qualifying for the 2020(1) Games in Tokyo.
Carline Muir
Carline Muir is a 32-year-old 400m sprinter from Toronto. She was the youngest Canadian track athlete at the 2008 Olympic Games, where she ran the 400m. Since then, she has represented Canada numerous times for the 400m and the 4x400 relay events, including the 2016 Olympics.
Pierce LePage
Pierce LePage is a rapidly rising decathlete star. The 24-year-old from Whitby, Ont., was part of the RBC Training Ground and found his athletic home in combined events. 2019 was his breakout year, winning silver at the PanAm Games behind fellow Canadian Damian Warner and placing fifth at the world championships in Doha.
Alicia Brown
Alicia Brown is a 30-year-old 400m sprinter from Ottawa. She ran track at the University of Toronto for her college career. She represented Canada in the 400m and the 4x400m relay at the 2016 Olympics.
Aaron Brown
Aaron Brown is one of Canada’s best sprinters in the 100m and 200m distances. (The other is Andre De Grasse). He’s the reigning national champion in the 100m and 200m, having edged out De Grasse in a photo finish for the 100m. The 28-year-old from Toronto has represented Canada at the 2016 Olympic Games, where he won a bronze medal as part of the 4x100 relay team. He also won bronze in the same event at the 2013 and 2015 world championships.
Jerome Blake
Jerome Blake is a 24-year-old sprinter from Burnaby, B.C. He got his start in elite sprinting with the RBC Training Ground program. He was included on the Canadian 4x100m relay team for the 2019 world championships and is aspiring to represent Canada at the 2020(1) Olympic Games.
That’s it for this week! If you’re reading this online or it was forwarded to you by a friend, you can subscribe here:
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Thanks for reading and keep on running.
We’ll see you next week.