The Big Payback

“Hey! Gotta, gotta payback! (The big payback) Revenge! I’m mad! (The big payback) Got to get back! I need some get-back!” —“The Payback,” James Brown

James Brown probably didn’t have spring running on the brain when sitt ing down to write his 1973 hit “The Payback ” (despite the 1970s ‘ jogging craze’ having taken f light). Still, that’s the song on repeat in the back of my head as the spring running season approaches.

As appreciative as I am about the coming change in weather, when the snow and ice recede, revealing asphalt running surfaces again, I still have mixed emotions. That first warm(ish), sun-filled spring run makes me feel as if I should write some kind of overly exuberant sonnet about the joys of spring running. Yet, one that ends peevishly – with me, f lipping the bird at Old-Man Winter, disappearing in the rearview mirror.

You might say I have a chip on my shoulder; I like to think of it as the Big Payback. Winter is on its heels, Canadian runners, even if it may not feel like that right now, so start getting excited about the coming spring running season, all you jittery first-time 5k–10k racers and wily vets off to Boston again – own it.

We hope this issue helps serve as a roadmap to owning your spring race in body and in mind, starting with our feature on some of Canada’s best spring and 5 and 10k races (p. 48). Masters runners should feel a renewed sense of ownership in Joanna Kotsopoulos’s look at why runners over 40 seem speedier than ever before (p.25). Speaking of speedy, you may find yourself picking up a pair of carbon-plated shoes for an extra dose of speed along the way to owning your spring race, based on evidence Alex Hutchinson reveals in “The Carbon Shoe Revolution” (p.36). Best of luck owning your running goals this spring, whatever those may be.