Canadian Creations
Capra: A Community Hub for All Things Trail Running
How three local trail runners are celebrating Squamish’s unique terrain and growing the trail running community
United by their common passion for trail running, Tyler McGowan, Mike Murphy and Solana Green came together in August 2016 to launch Capra. Located in Squamish, B.C., Capra is the only specialized trail running shop in the Sea-to-Sky Corridor. In addition to creating a carefully curated retail space with trail-specific products for their community, they have also launched a trail running group and are responsible for putting on a variety of trail-related events in the area. Their goal with Capra is to help build and foster a community. “We knew that Squamish was growing; mountain biking was already established, climbing was also established and trail running is well established in Vancouver,” explains Tyler McGowan, “but with the Squamish 50 race now selling out within minutes, we wanted to build a hub to support and grow that community.” With trail running now one of the major attractions in the area thanks to the massive trail network and diverse terrain, the success of Capra comes as no surprise. It can also be attributed to the three partners’ respective experience and talents. “Our collective experience…is quite unique,” says McGowan, “Mike is an elite athlete, Solana takes care of social media, marketing and the events side and I have a varied background between guiding, graphic design, retail and also got to see the behind the scenes while working at Arc’teryx.” Capra offers free runs from their store, three times a week. Tuesday mornings are led by Mike Murphy, a semi-professional athlete and coach. He offers a more structured workout
with hill intervals and extra coaching for those seeking extra help. Thursday nights are post-work casual shakeout runs that last up to 90 minutes, whereas Saturday mornings are social r uns t hat break up into two groups, the regular crew meets up at 8 a.m., and the mellow crew at 9 a.m. for a two-hour jaunt . With Capra located just 700 metres from the Coho Trail, they have lots of terrain to choose from. Plus, the crew will throw in a f ield trip once in a while, so that runners can explore more of their own backyard.
In addition to their trail running group, Capra organizes a Thanksgiving Turkey & Trails run, trail clinics and speaker series throughout the year. Launched last year, the Alpine Camp is a three-day skills-based camp where intermediate runners learn about movement, navigation and all the basic skills needed to tackle bigger running adventures. New to Capra this year is the Alpine Club, also geared toward intermediate trail runners. “It’s a single-day adventure guided run,” explains McGowan. “We do all the planning. We send you a list of gear you’ll need for the day. You just have to pick a day and know that you’re going to have the best adventure you can that day.” The Alpine Club takes runners outside for six to 10 hours of running while teaching them the skills and techniques required for the route, which can be anything from the Garibaldi Lake Lollipop to the Semi-Alcoholic Traverse, or even the Howe Sound Crest Trail Traverse, just to name a few.
With all of these initiatives, Capra hopes to keep building and fostering the trail running community in the area by offering a broader spectrum of assets that can appeal to everyone from the trail newb to the elite runner. “We want to be more than just a shop that carries apparel” says McGowan. “If you think of trail running in Squamish, we want you to think of us.” Melissa Offner, our March & April, 2018 cover athlete, is a co-founder of the Vancouver crew Run Distrikt. Follower her on Instgram @melsays.