Tag: zine

  • Birds Hill Trail Series

    On Thursday summer nights, a group of runners gather to chase the trails. The Birds Hill Trail Series, hosted by Joel Toews, offers up a great change of pace for the running routine – midweek race (taper?), in the evening (it’ll be how hot? what do I eat??) and short-ish distances (meaning, everyone starts off…

  • Barkman Marathons 2026

    “April 18.” Those were the first words out of his mouth, as I happened across him on the trail. Didn’t even lift his head as he trudged through another frigid puddle. When I prodded him to expound, he started ranting about how nobody should be planning events in February, clearly bothered by the 2026 edition…

  • Bad Ski

    Growing up, my dad had a “Fisherman’s Excuse Mug”. I think we bought it for him for Father’s Day or something. It detailed all the reasons why the fish didn’t bite on a given day. Weather, wrong bait, etc. And I thought this was hilarious. It’s been a warm week, and as I looked at…

  • Halloween or Ultra

    Ultrarunning holds lessons for all of life. And on Oct 31, it also holds a lot of similarities to another activity with many participants in neighbourhoods across the continent. Is is Halloween, or it it Ultra?

  • Race the North Face Poster

    So many gearing up to toe the starting line next weekend at Race the North Face. If you need to plot your strategy, or commemorate (commiserate?) your accomplishment, this one’s for you! New poster hot off the press and waiting for you at Big Sky Run Co. Pick one up while making your last-minute gear…

  • Who Would Win: Horse vs Human

    This weekend, 20 runners including myself, will test our mettle in a race against horses and their riders, in the 23-mile Runner vs Rider race along the Souris River in Manitoba. We will join the historic debate – can humans beat horses in the footrace? The now iconic Western States Endurance Race famously has its…

  • On sharing

    Bikes are coming out of storage and hitting the streets and sidewalks of town, which leads me to think about how we share our lanes of transport. I’m proud to be part of a family who values biking, and love taking 2 wheels (x5) to the park, or feeling the fresh air rather than AC…

  • Old Tom Backyard

    Last year we went in unawares, most of us having never running a Backyard Ultra before (as my race plan might have suggested). This year, we’re smarter, though possibly not wiser. Old Tom Backyard enters its second year, and we look forward to nearly endless loops around the barns and through the woods, followed by…

  • No time to spare in Beaudry

    “You’re late.” In 2019 I signed up to run loops of this beautiful little trail along the Assiniboine River west of Winnipeg during the annual Beaudry Fall Classic. This particular year, the race was preceded by a couple weeks of heavy rain, and as I drove out on a dark fall morning, the windshield wipers…

  • Actif Epica

    I’d been curious about the Actif Epica, an annual race along the Crow Wing Trail, for several years, and 2025 was my year to finally be part of it. As the day approached, the forecast continued to promise “classic Manitoba winter” temperatures below -20° C. The race bills itself as a “celebration of human resilience,”…