I let the fourth anniversary of the show slip by unnoticed in October, but it's time to get up and celebrate! In this episode, I look back at just a handful of this year's amazing guests and think about what it has meant to make change in the running industry in 2023. Many things are happening, and it's a great time for us to take a beat and celebrate the fantastic people standing up and making this community a more inclusive, beautiful place for us to share.

Featuring clips from Jake Federoski, Alison Mariela Desir, Jon Bird, Jenny Tough, Rach McBride, and Sage Watson.

Theme Music: Joseph McDade

EPISODE ONE: "I'm so delulu"

When I saw that friend of the show, Emelyn Jade, was planning to take on her first Half Ironman in Victoria in May 2024, I couldn't think of anything more fun than following her journey to the start line.

In the first episode of this series, Emelyn and I chat about her why, first emotions, and how the first couple of weeks of training are going.

Follow Emelyn's training vlog on Instagram @emelynjade

Theme song: Joseph McDade

Sponsored by Canada Running Series www.canadarunningseries.com

Nadia Clarke Cordick is a powerhouse: she is a fitness, nutritional and wellness coach through her company Repetitions Fitness, but also an educator who is committed to continuing her own studies as well. I met Nadia at the Speaker Series of the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon, where she talked about her work with Hill Run Club's Class of 2023. Nadia is constantly learning more about the things she is passionate about and then finds ways to take the knowledge and turn it outward to serve her community. She is a full-hearted giver who is leaving the education system and the people she works with the tools to better connect to themselves and the world they live in.

Follow Nadia on Instagram @repetitions_fitness

Learn more about Hill Run Club at https://www.hillstudioto.com/hillrunclub

Theme Music by Joseph McDade

Nattalyee Randall started running (as many of us do) in an effort to lose weight. She did just that, but what she gained was a love for the sport. And more than that, she found a way to use running as activism: her movements became protests. Nattalyee who is a talented singer, actor, director and writer, created the 50 Mile Protest Run for Justice. The run, and the documentary she made to share it, highlights 50 black and brown lives that have been lost to police brutality. Nattalyee and I talk about her journey to the award-winning project and what it has been like having so many people connect to it.

Follow Nattalyee on Instagram @nattalyee

Watch the documentary @50milerunforjusticeprotest

Theme music: Joseph McDade

What do running partnerships look like, and how can they make us better runners? We dug deep into these questions live from the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon Expo. Olympian Dayna Pidhoresky and her coach and husband Josh Seifarth discussed mixing business with home life and how they make it work. Twin sisters April and Melanie Boultbee talk about living and running together and how that choice has allowed them to support each other in so many ways. Single mom Melanie Murzeau talks about the village it takes to allow her to run and support her community while raising her three kids. We all need support to make our dreams come true and I hope this conversation helps you think about how others help you and how you can better ask for what you need.

In this week's episode, we are talking about mental health and running with journalist Stacey Munro. Trigger warning: this episode deals with the pandemic and the feelings and emotions of the lockdown, and the coping mechanisms it took all of us to get through it. As a journalist with no choice but to confront the news of every day but to meet it head-on, Stacey used running as her main outlet and escape. We discuss the difference between being alone and making the choice to carve out solitary time for yourself and how important of a lesson that continues to be today. Stacey recalls what it was like to navigate races as things began to reopen and how it taught us not to take being able to run together for granted ever again. But this is only part of her running story: join us at the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon Expo on Saturday, October 14th, 2023 from 4:00-4:45 PM (expo details and full schedule can be found here).

Follow Stacey on Instagram @stacemunro

Theme music: Joseph McDade

Flagstaff, AZ, resident Emily Durgin is heading to the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon to join the elite field on Sunday, October 15, 2023! Emily has had her ups and downs with running: from a thrilling school debut to some challenges and then successes in college, to amazing races that put her in the spotlight as a professional athlete, to injuries and more. But here's the lesson: throughout all of it, Emily maintains a root belief in herself and her ability. She says it herself – the person who thinks they are going to win is the person who will win. We could all use a little bit more of Emily's belief and confidence, and I hope you will take some of it away from this conversation.

Follow Emily on Instagram: @em_durgin

Photo Credit: @felipe_guajardo

It's another chat with my favourite coconut bun loving steeplechaser, Regan Yee! Since we last talked, she's earned two National titles in the 3000m Steeplechase, taken two trips to Worlds, a trip to NACAC, and even run a Diamond League in Eugene. Oh, did I forget to mention she went to the Olympics? Silly me. Now based in Flagstaff, Arizona and running with Under Armour's elite training team Mission Run Dark Sky Distance, Regan is getting more comfortable declaring big goals out loud and having the guts and the talent to go for it.

Follow Regan on Instagram @reganyee

Photo credit: @mr.nono500

Music by Joseph McDade

I have been thinking a lot lately about the message I shared with all of you last year as I was in peak of training for the Chicago Marathon. This year, I have no fall races in the books, and I am kinda full of FOMO. I thought I would share with you how things feel for me right now and how the feelings I had this time last year are strangely still true. So enjoy the Ghost of Races Past and the Ghost of Races Future in this mini-episode. Happy running!

Julie-Anne Staehli has had a heck of a year: World Cross Country Championships in Australia, top three at Nationals in the 5000, and just recently returned from World Championships in Budapest. Now she's also been named to her eighth national team and will run the 5K at the World Road Racing Championships in Latvia. While I invited Julie-Anne to the show to talk about Budapest, our conversation veered more retrospectively. Julie-Anne spoke about how she is being thoughtful and deliberate in looking at her decade-long commitment to high-level running and what she wants in the future. We may not all run with Team New Balance like she does, but these universal questions are very relatable and made for a great conversation.

Find Julie-Anne on Instagram @jastaehli

Theme song: Joseph McDade