The Race This race was named in memory of Émilie Mondor, the first Canadian woman to run a sub-15:00 5K and a member of Team Canada at the 2004 Olympics. Originally from Mascouche, Quebec, she was living in Ottawa training for the marathon when she died in a car accident in the fall of 2006. The race has always been championed by Ken Parker coach of the OAC women’s racing team, the man behind the Runners Web and a strong advocate for women’s running. The OAC women at the event. When interviewed about the race in 2007 he said “I want a woman to win the race, not a man won the race and so-and-so was the first woman,” “I wanted them not only to have the chance, but the responsibility. To have t

Grandma’s marathon is a big race in a small town. 9,500 people registered for the marathon and about the same for the half marathon (which sells out fast). If you haven’t heard of it, you may want to add it to your bucket list. When is it? Late spring On a Saturday in early June – So the weather could be a perfect cold and misty, a hypothermic cold and raining, or an exhausting hot and humid. Where is it? Duluth! It’s in Duluth, Minnesota. Where is that? It turns out Duluth is on the shore of Lake Superior about a two and a half hour drive from Minneapolis. Minneapolis is a major airport, so if you live too far away to drive, there are lots of flight options. From Minneapolis airport, you ca

The best laid plans of mice and marathoners… Often go awry There’s your one sentence summary of my race at Grandma’s and perhaps a reminder to all of us that not matter how much you prepare there will always be factors outside your control, and you have to learn to accept it. Deep eh? Well you have a lot of time to think when you are running 26.2 miles. Although some of those thoughts are not suitable to reprint here . If you want a race report that tells you what to expect if you run Grandma’s check out my more official race report here. This post is a more personal tale of my 2016 race at Grandma’s to share with friends, family and fellow runners, and also a chance to me to look back at th

My first Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour was in 2002 the kids were small at the time and we convinced my sister to look after them for the weekend so we could have a romantic weekend away. A 180 km bike ride to Kingston with 2000 other riders, overnight in a dorm room with two single beds and a 180 km ride back home the next day. Not everyone’s idea of romance but that’s why we are married to each other! StartFragment We rode down with a group. I had never ridden in a group before. I was terrified, and I had nightmares at Queens that night where I was running into someone else’s wheel. But i made it there and back. We have ridden Rideau Lakes together every year since with two minor exceptions. In 2

Chocolate, wine and firefighters - what's not to like? This was all the motivation I needed to sign up for the Le Chocolat 1/2 marathon in Windsor, ON. The fact that the course was super flat was just a bonus. My friend saw the race online and we both signed up before we could change our minds. I invited my husband Corey along as well, but after being race sherpa to a car full of women at the Nike 15k in Toronto last summer, he gracefully declined. So my friend and I decided to make it a girls weekend. Windsor is just a day's drive from Ottawa, and the directions are crazy easy: get on the 401 and drive 700 km. A bit of a long day, but we timed it out to avoid most of the Toronto traffic s

Canada’s biggest race weekend takes place right here in Ottawa we thought we would take a look back at the K2J Fitness runners at the event over the years We are going to start with 2009 the first year that K2J Fitness was officially there. John T, Mike (Bunny) Blois, Brian, Guy, Tamara, Dave, Maurenia (Bunny), Andrea W, Jennifer W, Erin, James and Karen all ran the marathon. John T was first to cross the finish line. Judy, Jeff Slavin, Michele HT, Theresa, Nada, Ian, Kim, Peggie, Cheryl, Mike Seymour, Ellen and Usha ran the ½. Kanako, Judy (Bunny) Valerie, and Sheila ran the 10K and Mike Maclean, Karen S, Jennifer C and Maurenia ran the 5k. David Cheruiyot won the marathon for the 4th time