When race cancellation emails began to fill runners’ inboxes in early 2020, causing a primary running and training motivator to fizzle, everyone was forced to look for those alternative motivations to keep moving forward. For several years I’d been finding “running as art” a good motivator for getting out the…
Longest Night Run 2020: Recap
At 4:29pm on Dec 21, the sun set on the longest night of the year. In Steinbach, the gray sky hardly blinked as it slowly faded to deeper shades of grey, and the street lights slowly took over lighting the streets of town. And as the darkness settled in, we…
Eight sleeps
Eight sleeps left till The Longest Night Run! We’ve been encouraged by all of you who have signed up so far, along with the stories of why you’ll be braving the night. And we’re so grateful for the generosity of those who have donated, it’s beautiful to see a community…
15 hours and 52 minutes
Ever since the first Longest Night Run, the gaping void between sunset and sunrise during the solstice has beckoned like a menacing “triple dog dare” (Christmas Story, anyone?) We’ve tackled it as a relay, with young and old taking their turn in running/walking/riding through the night. Others have decided to…
Nocturnal
I saw an owl the other day. Against dawn’s glowing eastern sky, a silent silhouette suspended in the branches between the path and the grassy field. I stopped to watch the rare sight, trying to make out the details of the great creature in the dim light. Although my eyes…
What the Trail Requires: The Mantario
For the past couple years I’ve heard stories about the Mantario Hiking Trail from friends who’d hiked and run it. At about 63km (40 miles) long, it’s not to be taken lightly. The trail was created in 1970s (though I wonder at its prior history), and traces a north-south path…
Men on the run: Mennonite Marathon
At sunrise on Saturday, August 1, a fisherman stood outside his tent at the point where the Rat and Red Rivers meet. Rod in hand, a curious smirk crossed his face as he watched 11 runners walk down to the river’s edge, dip their toes in the water, then start…
The Foot’s Silver Prayer
When Annie Dillard wrote about the man who kept a daily journal about the clouds, I thought the idea ridiculous. Who would document something as mundane as clouds? Most of us think clouds as boring as the paint on our walls, simply, unremarkably, there. But would this documentarian of the…
Secret Paths of Steinbach
When I was a kid, I was enthralled by secret portals into other worlds. Books like The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Secret Garden captured my young imagination. What if I could crawl into a tunnel, a cave, or an ordinary wardrobe, and enter into a secret mystical…
Small Kindnesses
Have we ever paid so much attention to our connection to each other? If ever we were aware of exactly how many metres separate you from me, and how quickly we can spread both kindness or viruses between people, it’s now. One year ago, Naomi Shihab Nye said of a…
Hi, I'm Brent! I write about creativity, curiosity, design, and wonder.
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© 2021 Brent Manke