SPIKESmag.com Interview

Here's an interview I did with SPIKESmag.com - a U.K.-based athletics magazine -- as a lead-in to the Montreal half-marathon record attempt this Sunday.

Salomon Giant's Rib Raid

I had the honour of joining brothers Mike and Wil Smith on a three-man team at the Salomon Giant's Rib Raid 25K orienteering race in Milton, Ont. Mike and Wil have each won several national and North American orienteering championships. Racing with them was a bit like playing a round of golf with a couple of PGA pros. It gave me the chance to witness up close some spectatcular navigating through scenic, rugged terrain on the Niagara Escarpment. These guys can absolutely fly over loose rocks, slippery boulders, treaturous roots and loose branches, all the while plotting precise routes to lead us to checkpoints hidden in the woods (or in one case, inside a cave!). I had always assumed that orienteers spent a fair amount of time standing in one place poring over their maps. Wow, was I ever wrong. The pace of our four-hour-long race was merciless, with only a handful of brief pauses. Our team, Canadian Running Magazine, placed second, six minutes behind The Foreigners, led by Nick Duca.

Here I am climbing out of the cave checkpoint.

Galavanting in Puerto Rico

This marks the first time I've appeared in a travel show. Check out Kim and Maren's Galavanting Guide to Puerto Rico. And hey, my name is even in the credits. It was fun to watch this and re-live all the fun times Dianne and I had in PR.

Kibet's Amazing Rotterdam Marathon Finish

Kibet surges past Kwambai at the Rotterdam Marathon. Both finish in 2:04:27. Wow.

Gebrselassie's Treadmill Fun Run

Here's a story I wrote for Canadian Running about Haile Gebrselassie's treadmill run at the Adidas Running Camp, including a video clip. I'll be writing up a full article with details from my interview with the Adidas Super Seven in the July issue of the magazine.

And here's a new clip of Tyson Gay demonstating his race start.

Haile!

Adidas Running Camp

The Adidas Super 7: Gebrselassie, Vlasic, Wariner, Gay, Campbell-Brown, Ohuruogu, Felix


How often do you get the chance to interview seven of the best athletes in the world, and watch them train up close? I just returned from the Adidas Running Camp in Santa Monica, California, with Tyson Gay, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Allyson Felix, Jeremy Wariner, Christine Ohuruogu, Blanka Vlasic and Haile Gebrselassie. Between them, they have 16 Olympic medals. The event kicked off with a run with Haile near the Santa Monica pier. Can you say thrill of a lifetime? I'll be writing an article about the running camp in a future issue of Canadian Running magazine.


Haile and me


Running with Haile by the Santa Monica pier


Haile running 4:00/mile on the treadmill (and still talking!)


Jeremy Wariner and Tyson Gay coming out of the blocks