Canada Day used to mean drinks with friends, outdoor concerts and meeting friends on Parliament Hill. It was about watching the Canada Day parade when I was younger on Main Street in Kentville, scooping up candy tossed from the floats or spending the day at lake with my cousins.
But over time, as I moved overseas and across Canada, switching careers (more than once) and falling in love with trail running, Canada Day has taken on a different meaning for me.
Now Canada Day is about heading to the mountains long before the crowds arrive, soaking in the solitude, moving through forests older than the country itself and scrambling up ridge lines with my weather-beaten Canadian flag. It’s about gratitude and appreciation for the freedom to roam in such a beautiful and diverse country.
No country beats Canada’s landscapes
One of the best things about being a trail runner in Canada is the diversity of terrain. You don’t have to go far to witness something spectacular. We are the second largest country in the world after Russia, and we’re surrounded by the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic Oceans. Canada’s geography includes everything from mountains and forests to plains and arctic regions.
As a trail and mountain runner, I feel lucky that I can get to places most people dream about or scroll past social media. In the West, we have the big, bold and beautiful Rockies. I can spend hours running through alpine meadows, by turquoise lakes and scrambling up scree slopes. I remember crying the first time I did Northover Ridge with its majestic beauty. The scenery took my breath away.
In the east, it is a story of rugged coastlines, mossy forests and rolling hills. Pick any spot in Nova Scotia, and you’re only an hour and half away from the Atlantic Ocean. You won’t climb any mountains in the east but you will be rewarded with ocean views and sea breezes.
Canadian runners have grit
There’s a common saying in trail running: There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. Canadian runners live by that mantra. We don’t hibernate with the bears when it’s -30C, we just layer up, strap on the Kahtoolas and take selfies of our frozen eyelashes before our iPhone battery taps out from the cold.
We call it heat training when the thermometer keeps rising pass +30C. We carry water filters and sunscreen. There’s no such thing as fair-weathered runners in Canada. Our weather builds resilience, strength and grit.
And then there’s the wildlife. We see deer, cows, moose, goats and sheep on our runs. The birds provide the soundtrack to our runs with the odd aggressive grouse guarding her young or the crows picking away at some carcass. We learn to read the land, watching for bear tracks, claw marks and scat. We carry bear spray, and hope we never have to use it.
Our weather and wildlife are embedded in the Canadian running experience. They shape who we are as runners: tough, adaptable and just a little wild ourselves.
What do you love about running in Canada? Which Canadian trail is on your bucket list? I would love to hear from you in the comments below.