10 Questions

Perhaps the most decorated runner in the country, she’s won international championships, big-time races and is considered one of the best trail runners in the world. She also runs a successful coaching service.

1 What would you say are your defining characteristics as a coach of runners?

I’m enthusiastic, patient and understanding, but I also encourage my coaching clients to reach for bigger and better goals by having faith in their abilities. I hope, that above anything else, I help instill a true passion in them for their running.

2 What do you admire most in a runner?

Hard work. Someone who is prepared to just put their head down and do the training with little fuss, fanfare or need of praise. Someone who runs for the pure and simple love of putting one foot in front of another and to test their physical abilities.

3 What is your idea of happiness?

Going for an adventure trail run with friends – seeing new landscapes, sharing stories and taking photos on the trail and then ending the day with a good meal together, and all day without an internet connection.

4 Who are your athletic heroes?

Paula Radcliffe for her amazing dedication to her running career and for her stance on drug-free sport. Lizzy Hawker – for truly testing the limits of the human body, for living a life less ordinary and for her ability to express her total love of mountain exploration on foot.

5 Other than where you are now, where would you like to live?

Banff or somewhere in the Alps, like a village near Chamonix, France or Interlaken, Switzerland. I’m not really a city person; I’m not sure how I ended up living in one.

6 What is your greatest running-related regret?

That I dropped out 90 kilometres into the iau World 100k in 2011 wearing my Great Britain vest. I’d already been vomiting for 35k and had to walk for 10, but I wish I’d stopped, regrouped and walked that final 10k. I could have done that, but I didn’t.

7 What is your greatest fear?

Injuries. To be able to run pain-free forever would be a dream. Injuries scare me far more than the prospect of seeing a bear or a cougar on a trail.

8 If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

That I was naturally more adventurous. I feel that I sometimes err of the side of being safe rather than taking more risks.

9 What’s one thing you can’t live without?

My running club, the Vancouver Falcons. They are a bunch of inspiring and motivating folks who I have the privilege to train with most weeks. They are great friends and just wonderful people.

10 What is your motto?

Tough times don’t last, but tough people do.– CR