The Shakeout Podcast

When Mark Bomba accepted the head coaching role at Queen’s University in 2020, he inherited a men’s program that was decades removed from their last appearance on a national cross country podium. For the new head coach the climb back to the top of the mountain had to begin with a strong culture, and his top priority was identifying just one athlete who would buy into the team-first ethos he was trying to build and serve as a pillar for the team in years to come. 

Less than 24 hours after the hiring announcement was made, an email from a keen Toronto-area highschooler named Roman Mironov appeared in the new coach’s inbox expressing his eagerness to run in the tri-colour kit of the Gaels; and Bomba knew he had his man.

5 years later, the men of Queen’s are now back-to-back USports National Champions, with Mironov himself scoring All-Canadian honours to assist the Gaels in both team victories and Bomba being named 2025 USports Men’s coach of the year. 

Fast approaching the end of his time as a student-athlete at Queen’s, it’s safe to say that the version of Queens varsity cross country that Mironov will leave behind is a far cry from the one he stepped into 5 seasons ago and that the culture he and his team spent years nurturing into a juggernaut shows no signs of slowing down.

Today on the Shakeout Podcast, we’re joined by Roman Mironov, the captain of the 2025 USports Men’s Cross Country Champion Queen’s Gaels and coach Mark Bomba to recap their dominant team victory last week in Sherbrooke and retrace the incredible arc of the program’s trajectory since 2020, culminating in back-to-back national titles.

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This episode is brought to you by CanPrev! Prime your preparation, power your performance, and prioritize your post-run recovery with CanPrev. Learn how natural health formulas can help you reach your running goals! canprev.ca

When the University of Victoria women’s cross country team claimed a team bronze medal at last year’s U Sports Canadian University Championships, it marked the first time in 13 years that the Vikes had climbed onto the national podium. 

Claiming bronze individually that same day was Madelyn Eybergen, a breakout star at the University of Windsor, who had entered the season as a complete unknown. Eybergen discovered distance running only a year earlier after injury woes put an end to a promising varsity high-jump career. 

At the time, both feats seemed like crowning achievements: a return to form for the once-dominant Vikes program after several years of steady rebuilding under new head coach Hilary Stellingwerff, and an incredible cap to her career as a Lancer for Eybergen, who was set to wrap up her time in Windsor and pursue graduate studies in kinesiology elsewhere.

Fast-forward to this past weekend in Sherbrooke, Que., however, and the 2025 iteration of the U Sports Championships would see both the Vikes and Eybergen achieve even greater heights, topping the podium with gold medals in the team and individual competitions, respectively. 

The biggest difference a year later? That the 2024 bronze-medal-winning individual had joined forces with the 2024 bronze-winning team, combining to bring a national title home to Victoria for the first time since 2001–the year Eybergen was born. 

Today on The Shakeout Podcast we’re joined by the newly minted U Sports Cross Country double gold medallist Madelyn Eybergen and Vikes head coach Hilary Stellingwerff to recap a historic win for their team and talk about how they turned a pair of bronze medals from 2024 into double gold in 2025.

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Huge thank you to this week's sponsor Smartwool. Join the Smartwool mailing list to receive updates and 15% off your first purchase. 

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This week on The Shakeout Podcast, we’re tackling the sensitive topic of sensitive tummies, diving into an exploration of the science behind gastrointestinal distress and learning how runners of all abilities can turn their fuelling, nutrition, and the inner workings of their gut from a weakness into a strength. 

Sharing her from her extensive experience is Jessalyn O’Donnell.  As a registered sports dietitian, Jessalyn has helped countless members of Canada’s national teams achieve success at Olympic, Paralympic and World Championship competition through optimizing their nutrition strategies. She joins the show today to share the same tools used by elite athletes with runners of all abilities, helping you get the most out of every run by listening to your gut. 

Subscribe to The Shakeout Podcast feed on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts.

Shop now at Altitude Sports and enjoy up to 20% off your first order with the promo code “shakeout” Click here to order 👉 https://bit.ly/altitude-shakeout

Conditions apply: Valid for a limited time on regular-priced items. Cannot be combined with other offers or the member discount. One use per customer.

*** A Note from Jessalyn on FODMAPS (fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols)--short chain carbs that the body has difficulty absorbing-- which are often associated with GI Distress in runners: Cutting out FODMAPs altogether or long term could come with a cost, as FODMAPs are also a great source of prebiotics which is essentially the fuel needed to nourish the good bacteria in our gut. FODMAPS are also a good source of carbohydrate which if reduced could compromise our bodies’ fuel supply needed to run well. So despite FODMAPS being a common culprit, cutting them out altogether is not a good idea and working a sports Dietitian to figure out a plan to balance minimizing symptoms, but still getting the nutrition benefit of FODMAPS is important.

 For more info on FODMAPS, click HERE

Having to “Go” has long been the enemy of runners everywhere, but might it hold the key to unlocking higher performance? While any runner can attest to how critical a well placed porta potty can be to performance, few realize the powerful science backing it up. 

Today on The Shakeout Podcast we’re joined by Dr. Chia Hua Kuo,  professor in the department of health and physical education at the Education University of Hong Kong, to explore how defecation could play a powerful role in endurance sport. From fatigue delay to enhanced cognition, you’ll never look at your pre-race ritual the same way again.

This episode of The Shakeout Podcast is part one in a special two part series on Taming the Tummy: How runners of all ability levels can take control of the Gastrointestinal health to feel better in training and maximize performance on race day. Stay tuned for part two, where we’ll connect with Registered Dietitian Jessalyn O'Donnell to learn how we can apply the science behind GI distress to training, racing, and everyday life.

Subscribe to The Shakeout Podcast feed on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts.

Huge thank you to this week's sponsor Smartwool. Join the Smartwool mailing list to receive updates and 15% off your first purchase. 

https://bit.ly/4hCway5

 Conditions apply: Valid on regular-priced items. Can., 16+. Initial registration only. See terms for details.

For more than a decade, few athletes have been as ubiquitous in Canadian athletics as Charles Philibert-Thiboutot. From a legendary university career at Université Laval that saw him help turn the Rouge et Or into the powerhouse they remain today, Charles quickly rose through the ranks on the elite scene, chalking up podium performances, national records, and championship titles on the roads, track, and cross country course while becoming a mainstay of Canadian national teams from Brazil to Budapest, Santiago to Tokyo.

While his approachability has made him a favourite of both fans and competitors alike for years, it has been his remarkable versatility as an athlete across a variety of different surfaces and distances that has made his staying power in the sport so unique. And while Charles has made himself equally at home in a diamond league 1500m as he is in a muddy cross country 10k, there’s still one event that remains as the final line item on a career bucket list that seems to stretch on forever, the mighty marathon. 

Now, the wait is finally over and the man they call CPT will take to the streets of NYC to tackle the TCS New York City marathon this Sunday, November 2nd, hoping to put an exclamation point on the final chapter of a career that will go down as one of the greats in Canadian distance running history. This week on the Shakeout Podcast, we welcome Charles back to the show in the lead up to New York, looking back at the moments that have defined his career thus far, as well as hearing why the long road of his professional career reaches its terminus only after 42.2 more kilometres through the streets of the Big Apple.

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Follow Charles on Social Media @CharlesPT

Special thanks to this week's sponsor Altitude Sports!

Shop now at Altitude Sports and enjoy up to 20% off your first order with the promo code “shakeout” Click here to order 👉 https://bit.ly/altitude-shakeout

Conditions apply: Valid for a limited time on regular-priced items. Cannot be combined with other offers or the member discount. One use per customer.

A look back at the past 12 months and there’s not much that Nelson, BC’s Jazmine Lowther hasn’t done in the trail running world.

After a summer of big-time performances that included a top ten finish at the legendary UTMB World 50k Finals in Chamonix, Lowther saved her best performance for last, leading the Canadian team at the World Mountain and Trail running championships in Spain with a stunning 4th place finish in the 82km Long Trail event.

When she’s not taking on the best in the world head-to-head, Jazmine’s competitive fire stays stoked chasing some of the most iconic FKTs in the trail running, notching Fastest Known Times on routes like Mauna Kea Volcano in Hawai’i and the summit of the legendary Grand Teton in Wyoming.

Today on The Shakeout Podcast we connect with Jazmine to recap her stand out performance at the World Championships, the preparation that got her there, and what  challenges still loom large on her bucket list in the months ahead.

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Follow Jazmine on social media @Jazmine_Lowther

Huge thank you to this week's sponsor Smartwool. Join the Smartwool mailing list to received updates and 15% off your first purchase 👉  https://bit.ly/4nrD1wb

The 2025 TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon takes place this Sunday, October 19th. Headlining the Canadian National championship field this year is Ben Flanagan, as he looks set to make his much-anticipated debut over the Marathon distance. 

This week on The Shakeout Podcast we catch up with Ben to hear how he's approaching his first step into the deep waters of marathoning. Following a stellar 2024 season that saw him PB on the track at every distance from 1500m to 10,000m and make his first Olympic team in Paris, Ben tells us why the time was right to make the move full-time onto the roads.

Already a multi-time national champion at shorter distances and the Canadian record holder at the road 5k, Ben shares his thoughts on why the roads have always felt like home for him despite a glittering track resume and how the unprecedented depth of Canadian marathoning currently is making the move both a daunting and exciting one for him. He also shares about his decision to move from his long-time training group in Michigan under the legendary Ron Warhurst to training solo in Cape Cod, his relationship with new Jon Green, and what it's been like to balance so much change with the demands of parenthood after the arrival of his first daughter this March. 

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Follow Ben on social media @Ben_flanagan

Huge thank you to this week's sponsor Smartwool. Join the Smartwool mailing list to received updates and 15% off your first purchase 👉  https://bit.ly/4nrD1wb

After one too many long commute times on Toronto’s aging street car network, Mac Bauer was fed up and decided to take it to the Toronto Transit Commission in a battle of man vs. machine. 

Over the past several months, Bauer has made it his mission to outrun the 11 routes that comprise Toronto’s streetcar network, tackling summer heat, distracted drivers, and endless red lights all while maintaining a perfect undefeated record against his hulking red steel opponents.

While the challenge began as an excuse to motivate Bauer’s own training, the competition has taken on a life of its own, resonating with fellow disgruntled commuters and bringing attention to a system that Bauer says has fallen behind the demands of the growing city.

This week on The Shakeout Podcast, Mac joins us to talk about his battle against public transit and why despite his perfect undefeated record, the victory he really dreams of is someday to lose.

Subscribe to The Shakeout Podcast feed on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts.

Huge thank you to this week's sponsor Smartwool. Join the Smartwool mailing list to received updates and 15% off your first purchase 👉  https://bit.ly/4nrD1wb

Huge thank you to this week's sponsor Smartwool. Join the Smartwool mailing list to received updates and 15% off your first purchase 👉  https://bit.ly/4nrD1wb

Conditions apply: Valid on regular-priced items. See terms for details.

In 2024, Ryan Keeping made headlines from coast to coast, literally. Over the course of 99 days, the Halifax ultrarunner completed a cross country trek that took him from St. John’s NL all the way to Victoria, a journey of more than 7300 kilometres, all while fundraising for the Heart & Stroke Foundation.

Since then, the incredible feats of endurance running haven’t stopped, and Keeping was soon back at it with more outlandish tests of resolve, including a 250 km ultramarathon in under 44 hours and a 10–day, 660 km journey that took him the entire length of Florida, completely unsupported.

Now, Keeping is back in the news–and the record books–with perhaps his most audacious challenge yet; becoming the fastest person to run the entire perimeter of Iceland, a journey of nearly 1,400 km along its iconic Ring Road. Battling everything the northern country had to throw at him, Keeping stopped the clock in Reykjavik at 14 days, 13hrs and 38 mins, breaking the existing record by almost two days. On this episode of The Shakeout Podcast we catch up with the new world record holder to talk about the run itself, his origin story in endurance running and how it all starts with inspiring others to “flip the switch” and take on the impossible.

Follow Ryan's journey on Instagram @Ryan.Keeping 

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This week on The Shakeout Podcast we welcome Calgary, AB's Cody Ko, a comedian, DJ, and YouTube megastar. While Cody became famous largely through his YouTube and social media presence, amassing millions of followers and hundreds of millions of views through his signature brand of comedy, running has been a part of his life for a long time and, in recent years, has become the focus of his online presence through his YouTube channel Cody Trains.

Born into a family of endurance athletes, the former Division 1 diver at Duke made his return to distance running in 2023, taking up the challenge set for him by his family to join them in completing both an Ultra marathon and an Ironman triathlon. Shortly after, Cody ran the 2023 New York City Marathon, where he was the most tracked participant in a field of more than 50,000 runners.

Fast forward to the present and Cody is making his return to the streets of New York for the 2025 edition of the marathon, looking to lower his time, fundraise for a great cause, and bring his fans along with him for the ride. We catch up with Cody between training sessions to talk marathon prep, balancing life as a full time content creator, and how he's harnessed the overwhelming support of the fans who've joined him on his endurance sport journey. Plus, we'll hear what he's doing this time around to make a bid for fastest celebrity in the marathon. 

Check out Cody's training Vlog on YouTube at Cody Trains

Instagram @itscodytrains and @CodyKo

Donate to Cody's NYC Marathon fundraiser in support of Release Recovery Foundation

Subscribe to The Shakeout Podcast feed on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts.