Cover Athlete

Prince Edward County restaurateur and runner Samantha Ravenda

Samantha Ravenda has worked in the restaurant industry for 20 years, starting in her hometown of Montreal, then moving to Toronto, where she lived for 16 years. A few years ago, she grew tired of the big city and ran away to the country, settling in Prince Edward County. There, she started her own oyster catering business called The Shore.

“The County is a great place to live,” she tells us during our photo shoot along Lake Ontario. “It’s surrounded by vineyards, beautiful Great Lake beaches and fantastic restaurants.” Ravenda has a busy summer and fall season with the influx of tourism, so while her pace of life has slowed down from the city, her work life is still full speed during these busy months. “I still like to start off with a run to jump-start my day,” she says of her routine during peak months. “I love to run country roads, they go on forever and you never get stopped by street lights or traffic. Breathing in that fresh country air and running past wide open fields with birds flying overhead, it’s all pretty inspiring.”

Ravenda says that running has always been an escape from the grind. “Living in the city and working in the fast-paced restaurant industry for so many years can take its toll. I used to run track and cross-country as a kid, and I came back to running as an adult, as a way to switch off and turn down the noise.” Working in hospitality means that Ravenda is constantly having to be on, conversing with people, “so it’s nice to escape that and just shut it all down and listen to my breath and the sound of my surroundings,” she says, “and sometimes a little Rihanna on my iPod.”