Member of the Ottawa Frontrunners limber up before their twice-weekly run.
They meet in the dark, in the numbing winds and in the blowing snow.
Spandex-clad and bundled into windbreakers, they hide their faces behind balaclavas that warm their faces, while leaving crystals of ice on their brow before their task is up.
These are Ottawa’s winter runners.
“I have friends who think I’m crazy to be out in the cold. But I think it’s just the love of the sport,” says José Perez, a founding member of the Ottawa Frontrunners, a downton running club.
“I’ve run when there’s been a snowstorm. It’s nice and white: it feels good to lace up.”
He isn’t the only one who thinks so.
Twice a week, a group of about 20 Frontrunners heads out to the Rideau Canal to join the thousands of other winter runners in Ottawa.
“I think there’s a lot of peer pressure there in the wintertime,” says Phil Marsh, the Ottawa regional manager of the Running Room.
Many joggers are preparing for events like the Winterman Marathon, which kicks off at the War Museum Feb. 21, or the Ottawa Race Weekend in May.
“If they don’t start preparing in January, February, March, they’re not going to be ready,” says Marsh.
Even in the dead of winter, the Running Room’s Sunday group runs draw 1,000 to 1,500 athletes over five locations, including a Centretown run.
While plenty of athletes head inside during the colder months, the track does not appeal to everyone, says Aveta Graham.
Graham started training for her first marathon this January with the Frontrunners.
“It’s much more interesting than running on a treadmill in the gym, looking at a wall or a TV screen. Outside you see other runners, you see iceskaters along the Canal.”
Another advantage of the outdoors is the strong sense of community within running groups.
The Ottawa Frontrunners was founded in 2003 from within Ottawa’s Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, two-spirit and queer community. The group also welcomes families and supporters and has members from Gatineau and Nepean.
“We have some great chats as we’re running along the canal, and it’s motivating to know that you have a group of people whom you actually have fun with to meet up with and go for a run,” says Graham.
The club meets for breakfast after its Saturday morning runs at and also participates in charity events.
“We do try to foster that sense of community centering around the sport,” says Perez.
As for winter running’s main challenge – the city’s snowy and icy sidewalks – both the Frontrunners and Marsh say this has been a good year.
“This winter has been tremendous for running because all the sidewalks are clear,” says Jean-Claude Blais, who has been running with the Frontrunners for several years.
He adds that with all the snow last year, precarious paths were a problem.
“The canal path, which the NCC has maintained, has just been right down to the pavement the whole time,” says Marsh.
When it comes right down to it, he says, winter running is just a fact of life for many athletes.
“We have to adjust to the fact that, you know, we’re in Ottawa. If you’re going to stay healthy and active you’re going to have to get outside at some point.”