Episodes

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text Jaala van Dongen is a 41-year-old mother of three from La Broquerie, MB, who recently completed her first ultramarathon. She didn’t train for it nor did she have more than a couple week’s notice, but after hearing the devastating news that she’d lost her older brother to suicide, she knew she had to tackle something challenging in his honour. Jaala decided on 43-miles, one mile for every year of Jonathan Ross’ life as a way of mourning his ...

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text Rick Canning grew up in Nova Scotia as a competitive paddler before discovering road running, trail running and eventually ultrarunning where he now loves testing his limits the most. Although a bridge engineer by day, Rick dedicates much of his time to his coaching business, New Leaf Running Company, where he helps beginner and experienced runners embrace the fundamentals of training he wishes he’d known about before struggling through his...

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text Dala Bortolussi is a 53 year old masters sprinter from Brossard, QC. While she ran some track in high school, it wasn’t until her mid-40s that she rekindled her love for short events from 50m to 100m. After discovering how much fun it is to compete locally and across Canada over the past five years, Dala is now on a mission to bring others along with her. She serves on the board of directors for Canadian Masters Athletics and is using her p...

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text Christian Stenner is a man with very diverse interests. We invited him on this podcast because Kim connected with him when he was running the Sinister 7 100 miler this summer, however as she got to know him she discovered ultrarunning is just one of the many things to which he devotes his time. Christian lives in Calgary, AB with his wife and his dog. In addition to his day job, he is an officer in the Canadian Armed Forces spec...

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text Welcome to the fall edition of Catching Up With Kim and Carolyn, where we meander our way through various current events in the road & trail running worlds, including some of our own racing and pacing experiences. Kim kicks things off by sharing about her DNF at the Canadian Death Race, why that really concerned her and what she’s doing to remedy her situation. She goes on to tell us a crazy story about pacing a former guest, He...

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text Today we had the pleasure of interviewing brand new Guinness World Record Holder, Steffan Reimer. Steffan is a 32 year old Physical Education teacher and accomplished runner with a marathon PB of 2:37:16, so naturally when he discovered that the world record for dribbling a basketball while running a marathon was 3:00:25, he knew he had to go after it. Steffan was ultimately successful in this quirky but seriously challenging pursuit in the...

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text Today we welcome our first repeat guest to Inspired Soles, Carolyn's husband Johnny Coffin. He was also on Episode 12: Slow the Bleep Down. We've been documenting Johnny's long and winding road to the 2021 Boston Marathon for several months, which began with him qualifying in the 2019 Manitoba Marathon in a time of 2:59:22. On October 11th, Thanksgiving Monday, he completed the challenging trek from Hopkinton to Boston in a personal best t...

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text Calvin Reimer is in his 3rd year of Kinesiology at the University of Manitoba and is part of the Bison’s track & field and cross country teams under the guidance of coach Claude Berubé. What struck us most about this fascinating interview is just how much the recreational adult runner can learn from an athlete like Calvin, who has lived and breathed running for a good chunk of his short life and is the product of a strong high school an...

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text It’s always fascinating to us how interconnected the running community is across space, time and genre. While in Manitoba Kim kept hearing the name Gavin dropped whenever anyone talked about sourcing high quality and hard to find running gear and products in Canada. “You just need to check out Gavin’s store. They’ll have it.” Over the years she has placed regular orders to SkiUphill RunUphill in Canmore and whenever she's in tow...

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text Brandy Adolphe is a dedicated amateur distance runner from Winnipeg in her mid-40s who has been absolutely crushing it lately. After spending a few years focused on the half marathon, in 2016 at the age of 40 she ran her first marathon in a time of 3:53:01 and has been chipping away at it ever since. In the 2021 Manitoba Marathon, she clocked in with a personal best time of 3:19:01 landing her first in her 45-49 age category and 4th female ...

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text Brian Gallant is a full-time mountain trail race director from Crowsnest Pass, Alberta where he runs Sinister Sports, a growing operation that puts on trail races that many recognize and respect including the famous Sinister Triple: the Sinister 7 Ultra, Canadian Death Race, and the Black Spur Ultra. Brian has been race directing for 20 years, and over that time he has developed a unique perspective on the sport, looking at it from an...

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text Today we are celebrating our one year anniversary at Inspired Soles Podcast and we have a very special guest on the show, pro mountain runner Sally McrRae! Sally is a very busy and successful professional athlete, writer, coach, mom and wife. She has had podium finishes all over the world and after over a decade of racing she doesn’t seem to be slowing down at all! Sally joins us from southern California to talk about her recent...

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text Today we’re pleased to welcome Genevieve Groulx to the show. Originally from Montreal and based in Calgary AB, Gen is a Partner in tax services for a large professional services firm. She discovered running through a Run to Quit smoking cessation program offered by the Running Room in 2017, and while those first steps were tough and she didn’t have the right wardrobe, she eventually grew to love the sport...especially after learning about d...

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text It’s time to welcome our third Couple of the Quarter, Brad Whitson and Jennifer Tackley, to the show! They are a running couple from Winnipeg with decades of running experience together. You would be hard pressed to find a race that they haven’t done in North America. The range represented between the two of them is incredible, from shorter road runs to longer ultramarathons. With races starting to happen again, many peo...

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text Ihor Verys is an energetic 26 year old up and coming trail runner whom we met in Manitoba, although he recently moved to Chilliwack, BC to be closer to the mountain trails. Although he has been running for the last 5 years, Ihor discovered his love of trail running more recently during the pandemic, and has found himself excelling at longer and longer distances where he thrives on exploring both the boundaries of his potential and the place...

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text Today we’re pleased to welcome Carolyn’s husband’s big sister, Alana Cadieux, to the podcast. Alana is an Air Traffic Controller in the Royal Canadian Air Force and has been stationed in Cold Lake AB for the past 20+ years. Even though Alana excelled at running throughout her teens on PEI, she felt drawn to attend Dalhousie University where she played on their basketball team. For the past ten years she has proudly represented Canada all ov...

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text Today co-host Kim Senechal breaks down her recent Sinister 7 50-mile race in Alberta, the first in-person race she’s run in almost two years. As if running 50 miles isn’t hard enough, this race was actually closer to 51.5 miles, it had over 9000 ft of elevation gain, and Kim completed this on the heels of moving two provinces over from the prairies, incurring crazy hail damage to her new house, starting a new job, and battling 38C degree he...

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text With the Tokyo Olympics set to start in just a few days, we feel today’s conversation with Dennis Lang could not be more fitting! Now 70 years old, he opens with a story from when he was just 13 years old about watching a Canadian win a silver medal on the track at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, and how that was the first of several pivotal moments that shaped the rest of his running life. Through decades of hard work and dedication, Dennis wo...

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text Today we’re honoured to be speaking with one of the great pioneers of Canadian women’s running, Diane Palmason. Now in her 80s and living in Comox, BC, Diane recalls how she discovered her love of running at a Sunday school picnic when she was just seven years old. By 12 she was recruited to train with the Mercury Athletic Club, a women’s only track club coached by the legendary 1928 Olympian Myrtle Cook. Diane’s career dates back to before...

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text Jon Paradowski is a runner from Regina, SK, who describes himself as just a regular guy who’s run some 100 milers, a 200 miler and some winter ultras. Jon’s running resume includes such races as UTMB, Fat Dog 120, Cascade Crest 100, Sulphur Springs 200 and numerous appearances at the Spruce Woods Ultra. He is a very diverse athlete who also excels at winter ultras such as Arrowhead and Tuscobia. Jon runs for MitoCanada as ...

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text Donna Bishop-Malapad is the wife of Junel Malapad whom we interviewed in Episode 19. We asked her to come on the podcast to talk about what it’s like to be the spouse and crew chief of someone who found their running passion later in life and hasn’t stopped running since! She talks about crewing Junel in the middle of the night, driving all over the province keeping track of him, and the day-to-day ups and downs of being the wife of a...

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text Kirsten Parker is the host of Women Run Canada where she talks with Olympians, running legends, race directors and community builders who share our passion for this fantastic sport. Carolyn even had the pleasure of co-hosting an episode with Kirsten where they interviewed her hometown running Shero, Paula Wiltse. In this episode we pull back the curtain on: Her decision to start the podcastHow she books such incredible guestsWhether she e...

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text Joel Toews is a husband and father from Winnipeg who loves trail running and organizing races for trail runners under On The Edge Running. During the day (when not shut down by COVID) he’s a Personal Trainer and Group Training Coach at North Star Fitness. He’s been running since high school and almost exclusively trails and ultras for 10 years. His most notable finishes include Superior 100, Bighorn 100, Canadian Death Race, Actif Epica an...

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text Jeff Vince is a 73 y.o. Winnipeg running legend who has been inspiring his community to lace up their shoes for well over 40 years. A retired Chartered Accountant, by his mid 30s Jeff described himself as a stressed out overweight workaholic couch potato who desperately wanted to change his lifestyle. Since then he has run over 87 marathons and 107 half marathons that have taken him all over the world, including each of the six World Marath...