Chris Kelsall | Articles

Year

Butler, Kathy Chris Kelsall Nov 30, 2011

Kathy Butler is British, Canadian and currently trains in America. She is an Olympian, coach, proud new mother and maker of eco-friendly children’s wear. She is now in-training for her third Olympiad, the London 2012 Games, but first she needs to qualify.

Martinson, Geoff Chris Kelsall Nov 29, 2011

Geoff Martinson is a Canadian Olympic hopeful and IAAF Worlds Track and Field Championships competitor (Daegu 2011). Martinson competes in middle distance events and is on the cusp of making the 2012 London Olympic Games in the 1500m.

Stellingwerff, Hilary Chris Kelsall Nov 29, 2011

: Hilary Stellingwerff

Middle distance runner Hilary Stellingwerff, is planning to compete for Canada at the 2012 London Olympic Games. She has raced in the Commonwealth Games, IAAF World Cross Country Championships, World Track and Field Championships and the World Indoor Championships.

Originally from Sarnia, Ontario, she recently relocated to Victoria, BC by way of Lausanne, Switzerland. During the time this interview took place, she was on her way to New Mexico, to take in some altitude training to supplement her winter base mileage.

Levins, Cameron Chris Kelsall Nov 28, 2011

From Runner's Feed www.runnersfeed.com:

Runners Feed’s Brandon Laan had the opportunity to catch up with the 2012 Canadian Cross Country Champion who also placed 4th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships one week ago! Levins shares how much he values his friends and family and how he can’t wait to don the red and white singlet post collegiately (perhaps at the 2012 London Games!).

Loutitt, Jason Chris Kelsall Nov 22, 2011

Jason Loutitt has lived just about everywhere in western Canada. He was born in Trail, British Columbia where his father played Jr. Hockey. He grew up in Uranium City, Saskatchewan until he was 8, Edmonton, Alberta for another 8 and yet another 8 years were spent in Winnipeg, Manitoba serving with the Canadian forces in the Army. Loutitt also attended University in Winnipeg and has called Fort McMurray, Saskatoon, Chemainus, Victoria, Regina, Vancouver, Shawnigan Lake, Canmore, Banff and now Duncan, BC on Vancouver Island 'home'. He has moved 37 times in 35 years.

Johnson, Justine Chris Kelsall Nov 22, 2011

The University of Washington's Justine Johnson is born and raised in Victoria, British Columbia athlete. She competed in High School for Oak Bay under long-time successful coach, Keith Butler.

Deacon, Bruce Chris Kelsall Nov 20, 2011

Note: I wrote this interview with Bruce Deacon during March of 2010, for the May issue of Canadian Running Magazine. As the print business goes, the Canadian Running Magazine version was truncated down to 794 words. That is plenty of truncating! But a thank you must go out to Michal Kapral, Editor-in-Chief, as he let me be the one to shorten the conversation, giving me authority over the delete button (and the backspace button too). Thus I chose what words would remain for the print product; for this I am appreciative. Thanks Michal! I have seen a few too many articles shredded by someone else, where the end result may as well have been conducted by a rhesus monkey over-dosed on pseudoephedrine, trapped and swing-dancing in a carton of razor blades.

Whitmarsh, Zach Chris Kelsall Nov 20, 2011

Zach Whitmarsh toils on the Jack Wallace Memorial, Oak Bay High School track in Victoria, BC. Marley his dog canters back and forth from the infield to the start area and back, taking splits. "What breed mix is Marley?"

"Marley is a pound dog. As far as we can tell he is a Shepherd-Collie cross. There may also be a bit of Burmese in him, he's a big-pawed dawg and he'd probably weigh another 20 pounds if he didn't get in the 50 miles per-week he's gotten used to", says Zach.

O'Callaghan, Paul Chris Kelsall Nov 20, 2011

Irishman Paul O'Callaghan competed in six World Cross Country Championships, qualified for the Olympics and wore the green from 1982 to 2003, competing on the road, track and in cross-country. As his website indicates, in 2006 he continued to run well, smashing the Irish Master's 10, 000m record with a time of 30:38. That year, Paul emigrated to the west coast of Canada to Victoria, BC on Vancouver Island. Since then he has focused on coaching others and is starting to see signs of success.

Butler, Keith Chris Kelsall Nov 19, 2011

University of Victoria Vikes athletics coach Keith Butler, along with head coach Brent Fougner are seeing early returns on their collaboration during the 2011 CIS West cross-country season. Both the women’s and men’s teams finished second in the Western Washington Invitational October 8th. October 22nd the women not only finished first in the University of British Columbia Open, but also swept the podium positions. The men's team also finished first and took the gold and silver positions.

Houlihan, Shayla Chris Kelsall Nov 19, 2011

Steeplechase specialist Shayla Houlihan, has recorded a number of personal bests in recent years with impressive improvements in the steeple and at the 5000m distance during 2009 and 2010. She is now looking to take the next step in her progression towards becoming an international competitor.

Mitic, Laura Chris Kelsall Nov 19, 2011

University of Victoria Vike, Laura Mitic recently competed in the Canadian Interuniversity Cross Country Championships (CIS) in Sherbrooke, Quebec. The Claremont High School grad, helped the Vikes to a 4th place finish, by leading her team and finishing 8th over-all in a time of 18:42, one-minute from gold.

Born to Run - Chris McDougall Chris Kelsall Nov 12, 2011

Chris McDougall

Born to Run

A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen.

Random House, Inc, 2009

Knopf. 287 pp. $24.95

Harvey, Lisa Chris Kelsall Nov 02, 2011

(April 2008)

Canadian distance runner Lisa Harvey, is a competitor who just loves to run. She started in high school, and later ran varsity for the University of Calgary Dinosaurs in Calgary, Alberta. Harvey represented Canada in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games is a three-time IAAF World Track and Field Championships competitor, she also competed eight times for Canada at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. She has also run for Canada in the World Half Marathon Championships and Pan-American Games winning a bronze medal in the 10,000m event. She has enjoyed a long and versatile career.

Chris Kelsall Sep 30, 2011

Mmm Beer - A Source of Hydration Chris Kelsall Sep 30, 2011

You see people out on their daily walk or jog. They carry their water bottles or have affixed an apparatus around their middle to store water. You know the contrivance, the ones which resemble the Atlas Missile Silo. Or more fascinating is the propensity to garnish oneself with a bat utility belt (BUBs). They load the contraptions to the hilt. BUBs are manufactured so they may contain enough armaments to fuel the entirety of the Chinese army, during a tea revolution.

Okay I will wear one, but load mine with a dark lager.

Runners going the marathon distance or shorter, need not port water in training, it's a fallacy. This is why homes are outfitted with faucets and gas stations provide water complete with a black rubber straw.

Cross-country Respect - Where is it? Chris Kelsall Sep 30, 2011

Frankly, it surprises me to no end why women are not waving their collective fists in the air, voices united in song, harmoniously belting out the chorus of Aretha Franklin’s classic 1970s hit, 'Respect'.

Why it is women are not demanding equal treatment in regards to cross-country racing distances, baffles me. I half expected someone to chain themselves to the wrought iron gates of the offices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) worldwide headquarters by now. They do have wrought iron gates, don't they?

In collegiate, national and international cross-country racing, men typically compete on courses measured to be 8, 10 or 12k. Women race only 5k, 6k or 8k.

Levins, Cameron - Sept, 2009 Chris Kelsall Sep 30, 2011

: Cameron Levins Southern Utah University

On June 16th, Black Creek’s Cam Levins finished 2nd over-all in the British Columbia Provincial 5k Road Race Championships on a challenging and hilly, double-looped course. He finished in the time of 14:53. Friday, August 14th he won a local 5000m event in 14:09 - The Black Press 5000. Interestingly, he ran faster during his summer build-up than he did at the end of his NCAA Division 1 track season. Following that August 14th performance in Victoria, B.C. he flew to the other end of the country to Prince Edward Island where he took in the Canada Summer Games 5000m and won in 14:23.

He is on a roll. He even has his own official Cam Levins thread at the Comox Valley Road Runners site.

Cam doesn’t seem the type to question what works for him. When I asked him specific questions about his training, he said, “honestly, I don't know a lot about different training philosophies. I've just put my trust in Coach Houle and the program, and so far it has worked out pretty well. I do around 100 miles-a-week and I run every day.”

Refined Damnation - A War with Sugar Chris Kelsall Sep 30, 2011

: Refined Sugar Wars

As I understand it and because I may have made this up, for us long distance runners, each pound that we are over our optimum weight, we are penalized 2 seconds per-mile, per pound when racing. If my calculations stand up to the scrutiny and you happen to be in the unfortunate position of being say 10 pounds over optimum weight, you would race 20 seconds per-mile slower than your true capability. Multiply that by 6.2 miles and you have...well you do the math, I can't concentrate.

Speaking of weight, refined carbohydrates are after me. They are relentless in their pursuit. Everywhere I go, I am accosted by flour products gone wild, there is no escape from them. I spend my nights trying to avoid refined carbohydrate damnation by the dim stovetop light.

Whyte, Angela Chris Kelsall Sep 30, 2011

Two-time Olympian, Angela Whyte will be competing at the Victoria Track Classic in the 100m hurdles event, Sunday July 3^rd at Centennial Stadium.

The 2001 Canadian National Champion is also a seven-time IAAF World Track and Field Championships competitor. She competed twice in the Commonwealth Games, winning a Silver Medal and owns a 100m hurdle personal best time of 12.63.

Whyte competed for the NCAA Div 1 University of Idaho Vandals, where she earned Big West Female Athlete of the Year honors in 2001 and Big West Female Track Athlete of the Year honors in 2003. She now coaches the Vandals sprint and hurdles team.

Despite all of her success, she considers herself “the other one” on the Canadian running scene, as she competes in the shadow of two of the world’s best hurdlers in Priscilla Lopes-Schliep and Perdita Felicien.

The CBC wrote: “The trouble is that the Edmonton native (Whyte) has been running in the shadows of the phenomenal Perdita Felicien, who in addition to winning world championships has won the past six national titles. Whyte has been runner-up five times.

“Perdita is an awesome competitor,” she says, “I have considered myself ‘The Other One’. Even after Athens, where I made a pretty good jump in the hurdling world.

Fartlek & Low Things in West Auckland Part 7 Chris Kelsall Sep 22, 2011

Colin Livingstone is a European based writer and illustrator who was a competitive distance runner in New Zealand, representing Auckland in national competition over road and cross-country from the 1970’s to the early 1990’s. He relished fast ‘bush running’ on the wild hilly trails of Auckland’s west coast, long before the days that mountain running was an official sport.

He coaches British and Welsh champion, Tim Davies, a three-time winner of the annual Snowdon International Mountain Race, and top performer at the European and World level. Tim went from being 15th in Britain to 5th in the world within three years of this progressive endurance conditioning.

Colin's twin brother, Keith Livingstone, was a national-level runner in New Zealand and Australia, winning Wellington and Auckland titles,with top performances on road, track and cross country. He ran 44.37 for 15k on the road in 1983, and won the final of the Budget 10k road race series in 1984. Keith is the author of the best-selling book on the Arthur Lydiard method of training, Healthy Intelligent Training, which was written with the serious middle distance athlete in mind and to modernize Lydiard's method to today's language (brother Colin provided the illustrations).

Fartlek & Low Things in West Auckland Part 6 Chris Kelsall Sep 22, 2011

Colin Livingstone is a Europe-based writer and illustrator who was a competitive distance runner in New Zealand, representing Auckland in national competition over road and cross-country from the 1970’s to the early 1990’s.

Colin's twin brother, Keith Livingstone, was also a national-level runner in New Zealand and Australia, winning Wellington and Auckland titles, with top performances on road, track and cross-country. He ran 44.37 for 15k on the road in 1983, and won the final of the Budget 10k road race series in 1984.

Keith is the author of the best-selling book on the Arthur Lydiard method of training, Healthy Intelligent Training, which was written with the serious middle distance athlete in mind and to modernize Lydiard's method to today's language (brother Colin provided the illustrations).

Colin and Keith grew up a stones throw from the legendary Arthur Lydiard and in the same neighbourhood of many of his great athletes. Keith is now a coach and chiropractor in Australia, while Colin resides in Great Britain.

Interview is below. Read part 5 here.

Fartlek & Low Things in West Auckland Part 5 Chris Kelsall Sep 22, 2011

The following installment of Fartlek and Low Things in West Auckland (Part 5) covers, for the most part, the subjects of muscle fibre recruitment as well as an in-depth look at the need for fueling in training. To fuel or not to fuel is the question!

The Livingstones and company were competitive distance runners during the late1970s through to the mid-1990s, when they ran at the national level in New Zealand and Australia. Now they coach others.

Keith Livingstone is a Chiropractor with a practice in Australia and is the author of the very popular book, Healthy Intelligent Training, the definitive text on the famous Arthur Lydiard method. Colin is an author and illustrator living in England (he provided the illustrations for the book, Healthy Intelligent Training).

You can read part 4 here.

Fartlek & Low Things in West Auckland Part 4 Chris Kelsall Sep 21, 2011

The following narratives contained in this fourth installment of Fartlek and Low Things in West Auckland are the adventures of protagonist brothers, Keith and Colin Livingstone of New Zealand. Within each of these submissions, madness and debauchery reign supreme, as does serious training talk to do with the sport of athletics.

The Livingstones and company, these raconteurs, were competitive distance runners during the late 1970s through to the mid-1990s, when they ran at the national level in New Zealand and Australia. Now they coach others.

For no reason whatsoever, there is no particular order to these interviews and the yarns they contain. Perhaps this random and ad-hoc order to the events puts a greater shine to the luster of the rather allegoric-like adventures that make up this series of interviews. I think so.

Fartlek & Low Things in West Auckland Part 3 Chris Kelsall Sep 21, 2011

Below is part 3 of the 4 or 5 or 6-part series of interviews with brothers Keith and Colin Livingstone (plus three interlopers, that's 5 for the price of 2).

Keith is a chiropractor practicing in Australia and is the author of the top-selling book, Healthy Intelligent Training, the definitive modern translation of the legendary Arthur Lydiard method.

Colin, who now lives in England, in his words, “the sticks” is an author and professional illustrator.

Keith and Colin were competitive distance runners for New Zealand and Australia during the late 1970s to early 1990s. Both currently coach and continue to be involved with athletics.

Click here to read the very entertaining, part 1 and part 2 of Fartlek and Low Things in West Auckland series of interviews.

Fartlek & Low Things in West Auckland Part 2 Chris Kelsall Sep 21, 2011

Below is part 2 of the 3-part series of interviews with brothers Keith and Colin Livingstone.

Keith is a chiropractor practicing in Australia and is the author of the top-selling book, Healthy Intelligent Training, the definitive modern translation of the legendary Arthur Lydiard method.

Colin who now lives in England, in his words, “the sticks” is an author and professional illustrator.

Keith and Colin were competitive distance runners for New Zealand and Australia during the late 1970s to early 1990s. Both currently coach and continue to be involved with athletics.

Click here to read the very entertaining, part 1.

Chris: Colin, what are your thoughts on Mo Farah moving from England to the US to Alberto Salazar’s group?

Colin: I am not really connected with the running scene here, although I coach athletes, I am just a country boy living in the sticks. I don’t know much about who is doing what, but my initial reaction would be ‘if it ain't broke, don’t fix it’.

Fartlek & Low Things in West Auckland Part 1 Chris Kelsall Sep 21, 2011

Colin Livingstone is a UK-based writer and illustrator who was a competitive distance runner in New Zealand, representing Auckland in national competition over road and cross-country from the 1970’s to the early 1990’s. He relished fast ‘bush running’ on the wild hilly trails of Auckland’s west coast, long before the days that mountain running was an official sport.

Minimalism Chris Kelsall Sep 20, 2011

I wrote this loose and lightly researched article on minimalism in 2007 for Flotrack, before the popularity of minimalism really took off. I am not claiming any sort of influence regarding the growth in the practice of minimalism by the running community. I was, at that time, just another voice talking about its veracity.

At Flotrack, where the article currently resides, there are several comments from readers who debated the article and the practice. They are interesting to read and add to the article. I have included them below.

Minimalism

Top-level runners have always been known to conduct workouts and race while wearing lightweight trainers or racing flats. Now, finally there appears to be a growing trend towards minimalism in running footwear for runners of nearly all levels and the marketing of minimalism is growing too.

Runners attempt to ride that sometimes elusive, elevated sense of well being, by controlling it. Runners supplement it by eating well, sleeping optimum quantities, training smart and avoiding stressful situations, but is that enough?

When it comes to the lower extremities, especially the feet, there exists a certain lack of control. Our feet conduct random acts of unpredictability, or so it seems. There are a growing number of studies and there are an increasing number of athletes alike who are concerned about the increased impact and unnatural bounce back created by running in big, cushy trainers.

Stevenson, Nicole Chris Kelsall Sep 18, 2011

With a Commonwealth Games appearance and a 2:32 marathon personal best, Nicole Stevenson has been one of Canada’s elite marathon runners since 2002.

Coached by Hugh Cameron, Nicole transitioned from a middle-distance runner to a marathoner, smoothly. She was able to maintain fairly low-mileage training while working full time for a Pharmaceutical company, in marketing.

Cameron is the head coach with the Brooks Canada Marathon Project in Ontario. Brooks marathon project enables Canada’s best runners to maintain focus on their training and he is doing so with good success.

Martin Goulet, Chief High Performance Officer for Athletics Canada says:

"As a long time national team and Olympic distance running coach I was thrilled to learn about this new privately sponsored Brooks Canada Marathon Project when briefed about it. Our sport certainly needs new innovative ways to attract support for our Canadian athletes. We enthusiastically endorse the concept and approach especially knowing that under the strong leadership of coach Cameron, this initiative will harmoniously complement what Athletics Canada is doing in the global area of distance running."

Broad, Kelvin Chris Kelsall Sep 18, 2011

The first of two long runs I had done with Kelvin Broad were over 20 miles long and included a group of fellow runners of varying abilities (I was the most variable of all). We ran through the mossy rain

forest outside of Victoria, British Columbia over hills and through chest-deep Salal. I think we crawled through a blackberry bush and witnessed the collapse of a bridge, while our run leader (Bob) stood knee-deep in the creek wearing an ear-to-ear smile.

Later on during the run - sometime after the 17 mile mark or so and as I began to fade - I tossed the fear of becoming lost, as Kelvin orated (like Martin Scorsese) in his high-timbre, Kiwi accent. No matter how far back I dropped, I could hear the rapid-fire ramblings. Oh sure I am less capable of a runner and certainly wasn’t at the peak of fitness, but he talked the entire three hours! He was an audible beacon – a human GPS!

Broad has won the Calgary Marathon 8 consecutive times and the Royal Victoria Marathon 5 consecutive. As a staunch Lydiard method advocate, a Canadian Mountain Team Director and a Professor, I thought it would be best to encapsulate what he might have said on that run to share with the rest of the running world. Because it is impossible to remember 3 hours of machine-gun, rapid-fire dialogue, here follows an actual interview.