More Photos from the Canadian Running Magazine 5K Joggling Duel

All photos by Adrienne Stewart (thanks Adrienne!)

Race splits

NEWS RELEASE: New All-Canadian Running Magazine Launches in February

On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!
New Canadian Running Magazine Launches in February
– Editorial Team Goes the Distance for Runners North of the Border –

Toronto (February 5, 2008) – Canada has an estimated one million runners, more than 500 running races, and expected sales of two million pairs of running shoes in 2008. And now, finally, Canada has its own magazine dedicated to running. Gripped Inc. launches Canadian Running Magazine, the only running magazine published in Canada and with all-Canadian content, in February.

“This is the first running magazine that is truly dedicated to all levels of runners in the Great White North, from St. John’s to Ottawa to Victoria,” says editor-in-chief Michal Kapral. “At last, Canadians can read about the best running routes, the excellent races, the most influential and up-and-coming runners, inspirational stories, winter running tips, and running news – in Canada! Oh, and running programs in kilometres, not miles!”

Coverage will also include articles on the latest running issues, fitness tips for all seasons, diet and nutrition information, in-depth features, and expert reviews of the latest footwear, fashion and accessories for runners.

“Our editorial team is led by accomplished runners who are tapped into the running community,” says Gripped Inc. publisher Sam Cohen. “We found the right people and ran with them. And hey, the first issue speaks for itself.”

Editor-in-chief Michal Kapral won the Toronto Marathon in 2002 with a personal best time of 2:30:40, holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon while juggling (2:50:09), and is a sponsored athlete. Senior editor Kevin Mackinnon is an accomplished runner, triathlete and coach, and the editor of Triathlon Magazine Canada. Senior editor Alex Hutchinson represented Canada at the World Championships. Publisher Sam Cohen is a life-long runner who will focus on 5K and 10K races in 2008. Publisher and editorial director Dave Chaundy-Smart is a passionate runner who completed his first and second marathons two weeks apart last fall.

Canadian Running Magazine is Gripped Inc.’s third magazine. The company first launched Gripped: The Climbing Magazine in 1999, followed by Triathlon Magazine Canada in March 2006.

“Running is one of the simplest and most accessible fitness activities in Canada, so it’s a mass-appeal sport,” says Cohen. “Triathlon Magazine Canada was so successful that we decided to use the same formula to enter a larger, more mainstream market.” Cohen says the Canadian running magazine market has significant room for growth. The U.S. publication Runner’s World sells about 25,000 subscriptions in Canada and 10,000 copies on newsstands – with total U.S. sales of 600,000. Based on population – Canada has one-tenth the population of the U.S. – Canadian Running Magazine has the potential to reach 60,000 Canadians subscriptions.

The launch issue tells the story of Danny Kassap, a political refugee from Congo with dreams of Canadian citizenship and the Beijing Olympics. The magazine also talks to Olympic hopeful Hilary Stellingwerff, profiles B.C.’s Bastion Running Club, explores the surge in popularity of running forums with a look at http://www.runningmania.com/, talks to running celebrity Ron MacLean of CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada, takes readers on a running tour of Quebec City and explores trail runs in the Maritimes and the Rockies. Other features include training and nutrition tips, inspiration for winter running, and both shoe and gear reviews.

Canadian Running Magazine will start to appear on newsstands in Ontario on February 21, Quebec on February 25, and the rest of the country on February 26. The magazine will be sold on special displays at Running Room stores across the country, in most Shoppers Drug Marts and at all major Canadian airports. Canadian Running Magazine will also be sold at independent retailers across Canada (please see the attached fact sheet for a list of several retailers in each province).

Canadian Running Magazine’s website (http://www.runningmagazine.ca/) will launch on February 15. For subscriptions, please go to http://www.runningmagazine.ca/ or call 416-927-0774.

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Contact:
Michal Kapral, Editor-in-Chief, 416-861-8319 ext. 232, michal@runningmagazine.ca
Dianne Kapral, Media Relations, 416-690-4555, dianne@runningmagazine.ca
Dave Chaundy-Smart, Editorial Director, 416-927-0774, dave@gripped.com
Sam Cohen, Publisher, 416-927-0774, sam@gripped.com (available starting Monday, February 11)

Toggling into joggling mode

Training has begun. I joggled home from work yesterday. It was oppressively hot and humid, but I made it in good time. I got a few cheers along the way and heard one woman tell her friend that I'm trying to break a world record. Maybe she read my blog?

Just Your Average Joggler interview

Who knew the new iPhone was also a treadmill? (Thanks to Blog on a Toothpick for this.)

And back to joggling. Perry Romanowski is running a series of joggler interviews on his blog, "Just Your Average Joggler." A couple of days ago, yours truly was featured. And now, through the wonders of the Internet, here is a link to an interview that I did with another joggler that he posted on his joggling blog and that I am now linking to from my joggling blog:

JOGGLING INTERVIEW WITH MICHAL KAPRAL

Perry's blog is very informative, and I strongly urge all of you masses of joggling fans to check it out on a regular basis. It's updated almost every day. And talk about dedication to the sport: Perry has gone for a joggle every single day for the past 171 days!

Zach vs. Michal, Round 3?

No, Zach will not be unicycling against me in our next showdown as this photo collage might suggest, but we may end up in another joggling match-up. Zach is off in Dubai and Qatar doing some laughter research (seriously), but when he gets back to Boston sometime in August, he's going to let me know if he's game for a joggle-off at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on September 30.

Neither of us thought we would do another joggling marathon, much less against each other in the same race, but this sport is just too addictive.

Stay tuned...

My lucky break ... or should I say, no break?

After seven hours in a variety of waiting rooms at St. Michael's Hospital, it has been determined that my shin suffered "massive trauma" in my parkour mishap, but no fracture. So as soon as I can walk again without pain, I'll be ready to run.

I'd say the next world record attempt is a go.

When my name was called out by the triage nurse in the ER, I heard a voice behind me say: "That's the joggler! That guy runs marathons while juggling." I looked back to see a guy in the red shirt and glasses grinning away. Later on in the treatment area, we ran into each other again. It turns out that he was the editor who put together the CBC News: Sunday documentary. He had torn his Achilles tendon playing ball hockey. We had a good conversation about joggling, juggling, running, ball hockey, news editing and injuries.

Joggler's parkour career over before it started

Back in March I wrote this post about being a klutz when I'm not joggling or juggling.

I further proved this point yesterday after work in a painfully unsuccessful jump over a parking lot barrier. The casual shoes I was wearing were too loose. As I jumped up to hurdle the metal barricade my shoe flopped around a messed up my take-off and the next thing I knew my foot caught the edge of the metal and I crashed ignominiously to the ground.

I would have been embarrassed were it not for the excruciating pain in my left shin, which took the brunt of the impact. After hobbling to the subway the trying not to whimper out loud on my trip home, I went to a walk-in clinic to get the damage assessed.

There was a big gash in the shin about 8 cm long, but it wasn't deep enough to warrant stitches. It feels like I might have torn something in my knee, but it's too hard to tell with all the swelling around the surface wound.

So for now, I rest, and contemplate my future now that parkour has been scratched off my Things To Do Before I Die list.

Introducing the Magic Slimming Pill

When people find out that I joggle and chase world records, and that I work as a personal trainer with Fitness At Heart, they often ask what the secret is to losing weight.

Here it is, the Magic Slimming Pill:

1) First, you eat your Magic Slimming Pill (a Jelly Belly in the flavour of your choice will do).
2) Next, you do some type of cardiovascular exercise every day. and ideally some strength training twice a week.
3) Then you eat moderate portions of healthy food frequently, including vegetables, fruit, legumes, whole grains and lean protein. Avoid trans fats, too much fat overall, heavily processed carbs and other mass-manufactured crap that poses as food because it tastes good. Don't drink too much alcohol, unless you're at your best friend's wedding or your own wedding or have another good excuse to do so.

Sounds easy, right? Wrong. Our current North American society is not designed for this type of lifestyle. In order to take advantage of the Magic Slimming Pill, you need to go against the grain of society, which has been designed to keep us as static as possible by shuttling us around in motorized vehicles of one kind or another and inventing devices to keep us sedentary.

We also live in a world where processed food is the most convenient to obtain. When I walk through the supermarket or convenience store, I often wonder what percentage of the total food in the store is healthy. My rough estimate for a supermarket is maybe 10% or less and for a convenience store, maybe 1%.

The magic in the slimming pill is daring to be different. Be a maverick: get regular exercise and eat real food in moderate portions.

Eccentric and fun modes of transportation

Earlier this week I mentioned that Bluevelo, a Toronto-based distributor of velomobiles (human-powered cars), was selling some incredible-looking machines for about $10,000 and up. Well, their site is now listing the Dutch-designed Alligt Alleweder kit (pictured above) for a bargain $3,495 for a limited time.

Since I've decided to bike to and from work rather than take the subway there and joggle home, I could almost justify this cost. My subway pass costs about $1,000 per year (kindly donated by my generous mom), so this vehicle would pay for itself in under four years. And think of the fun I'd have!

I've always had a fascination with the human-powered commute. When I was a kid, I ran ran, walked, skateboarded or biked everywhere. When I was training competitively for the marathon, I ran to and from work every day for a daily total of 16-20 miles, depending on my route. In my recent training for the Salt Lake City Marathon, I've been joggling home from work and doing tricks the whole way. I've become addicted to having fun and exercising on my commute. I could never, ever drive a car to work, and taking the subway both ways every day would be pretty miserable too. I need me-power.

So maybe I'll do my little part to save the planet, make a statement, turn some heads (I'm now used to that), stay fit and have fun and get myself a nice, shiny velomobile!

Jogglers on Breitbart TV

Breitbart, the online news site often linked to by the wildly popular Drudge Report , posted a link to the CBC News: Sunday joggling video ... right here. I find this very cool because, as a news junkie, I visit both of these sites regularly.

Speaking of joggling news coverage, there will be an article about me in an upcoming issue of Explore magazine. The interview I did with the reporter was really funny so I'm looking forward to reading this one.

In The Long Run

A couple of weeks ago at the Toronto Reebok Run Easy event, I met Lee Hewitt, a web editor at the Toronto Sun. Lee, who recently qualified for the Boston Marathon, writes a great running blog on - you guessed it - the Toronto Sun website.

The blog also has a great name: In The Long Run. I'm not sure if Lee intended this, but this is a line from the excellent Rush song, Marathon:

It's a test of ultimate will
The heartbreak climb uphill
Got to pick up the pace
If you want to stay in the race
More than blind ambition
More than simple greed
More than a finish line
Must feed this burning need
In the long run...

Lee published a nice photo of my custom Sport Juggling
Co. joggling beanbags in his latest entry, and will soon be running an interview
(I hope I didn't say anything stupid).

My 16 minutes and 7 seconds of fame

Here's a link to the CBC-TV video. Please enjoy it at my expense.

I laughed, I cried, I ate breakfast

I woke up this morning and took the kids down to watch daddy on TV. The CBC News: Sunday story was airing at 9 a.m. on Newsworld and 10 a.m. on CBC-TV. Assuming it would be near the end of the show, we started watching Newsworld at 9:30 and it was nowhere to be found.

At 10, I flipped over to regular CBC and there it was – the lead story! The whole family sat on the couch laughing (and me sometimes crying in embarrassment) while we ate breakfast. They did an unbelievable job editing the feature. Having made some short films, I know exactly how much labour is involved.

I was excited to be the lead story, but one viewer wrote to complain about this editorial decision in the comments section on the CBC News: Sunday website. Let's see if anyone responds to defend it. It's true, the world faces many grave problems, but let's for once put some fun first. I've spent my whole literate life reading the Globe and Mail from back to front – fun stuff first.

The story will air again tonight on Newsworld at 9 and CBC-TV at 10. Also, Marg from RunningMania.com (by far the best Canadian web community for running) has offered to record and post the story on YouTube. Marg just ran her first marathon today in 4:33 in Ottawa (congrats!), so her priority right now is to celebrate her achievement and get some rest.

IJA festival joggling races

People often ask me if there are joggling world championships. The answer is no, there are no official world championships for the sport, but every year the International Jugglers' Association holds a series of joggling races. This year's event is in Winston-Salem on July 17. I would love to be there and compete in some of the track events, but my schedule is too busy.

Joggling pioneer Bill Giduz is the official joggling director for the event and here's what he has to say about the venue:

In my capacity as IJA joggling director this year, I traveled to Winston-Salem today for a first-hand inspection of the joggling track for the races, which will be held Tuesday morning, July 17. It's a very nice, and slightly quirky, facility. The track is a six-lane, black, rubberized surface that's just a year old. It's well maintained, and the starting points for all the races are clearly marked on the surface. The track is in Hanes Park, probably about a mile-and-a-half from the convention center. There are two fairly large pavilion areas to give shade, a mister where the runners can cool down, water fountain, and clean bathrooms.

The quirky part is that about half of the inside of the track is a tennis facility, with a clubhouse and eight or so courts. So at no point can you see the whole track, because it's obscured by the tall fences around the tennis courts. It won't be a problem for the 100, which is all on a straightaway, but the 200, 400, 800, 1600, and 5 k will all feature limited sight lines. For the 200, the officials at the finish line won't be able to see the start line, so we'll need a starter's pistol to signal the timers that the race has begun. I don't think that'll be a problem with the other races.

I'm happy, though, that it's a well-maintained, high-quality track, and located so close to our convention site. It's operated by the municipal parks and recreation department, and two of its officials, Tim Grant and Todd Barr, gave me the tour. They are very accommodating, and eager to do whatever's in their power to make sure we have a good event.

I'll be posting more about the races soon, but in the meantime please tell your friends to start training!

Also, I'll be looking for 8-10 volunteers to help with registration, judging, and timing. Give me a holler if you or your friends are interested in that, or if you have any questions about this summer's event.

Bill Giduz

Up next: the Toronto Father's Day 5K

What better way to celebrate Father's Day next month than with a 5K joggle?

The Father’s Day Walk/Run for Prostate Cancer Research in Toronto's Distillery District has invited me to do a joggling demonstration at the their fun run. It should be a good time and for a good cause. The event is also run in Edmonton, Calgary and Halifax.

Thanks to my friend and running inspiration, George Hubbard, for the invite.

On the competitive side, I'm in the process of trying to find a suitable track venue for another assault on the 5,000m joggling record of 16:55.

Help, I can't stop joggling!

My attempts to stop joggling have failed. Last night I ran home from work and just couldn't resist the urge to joggle. Since I hadn't joggled in a couple of weeks, I went crazy, doing all kinds of tricks and bouncing the beanbags off signs and buildings - sort of a joggling version of parkour. It's good to be back.

This article in the Washington Post talks about Michael Wardian's recent stroller-pushing marathon record, and also mentions me and Barry Goldmeier. I like the last paragraph about stunt runners showing people how to lighten up. I would, however, like to point out that I don't joggle and go for stunt records "for the publicity." It's the other way around. I want to break the records and set new challenges and entertain people, so why not publicize them? Does anyone accuse Sidney Crosby of playing hockey "for publicity"? Does Mike Weir play golf to get his name in the paper?

Publicity has also been a great way to generate competition. My wife, Dianne, did such a good job promoting my stroller and joggling records that Zach Warren and Michael Wardian heard about them and decided to break them.

Salt Lake City Marathon coverage

Here's a good Salt Lake roundup from Park City TV. Zach and I are really trucking at 6 miles. I like how they filmed the clock before they showed us coming through. It was a pretty insane joggling pace at the start, but there was a long downhill section.

Toronto Raptors' Mo Pete joggles

Apart from it being my birthday yesterday, the main highlight of the day was showing Toronto Raptor Morris Peterson how to joggle.

We were at a Reebok event to launch the brand's new Run Easy campaign and http://www.goruneasy.com/ website. As part of the promotion, some Reebok-sponsored celebrities (for some reason, I was included in this category) went for a short run along the Toronto waterfront "at the speed of chat" and spoke with reporters and several dozen Running Room employees.

It was a beautiful, sunny day. I was up front joggling next to Mo Pete, fellow runner Predrag Mladenovic and Rosey Edeh from ET Canada, who is a former Olympian and world-class 400m hurdler.

Mo Pete was watching me joggle and asked to give it a shot. I handed over the Sport Juggling Co. "Joggler" beanbags and Mo immediately started to joggle! He was even better than Evan Solomon. It turns out that we both learned how to juggle when we were nine years old. I was seriously impressed that he could joggle right off the bat, but then again, he is known to have better-than-average hand-eye coordination.

Way to go, Mo! I got him to sign my Reebok Run Easy t-shirt, where he wrote "Joggle Easy!!"

The Joggler on YouTube at last!

Zach's friend Emily sent along this clip (including her cheering) of me and Zach duking it out in Salt Lake. Note the film crews in golf carts. I'm hoping the golf cart footage makes it look like we're running faster - this video makes it look like we're out for an easy stroll.

Reebok Run Easy event

Tomorrow morning, I'll be participating in a Reebok event in Toronto for their new Run Easy campaign. I don't have many details, but I've been told to bring my joggling beanbags and be ready for a 2K run "at the speed of chat."