Nearly 20 years ago, I thought I had the best job in the world. I really did. But what I didn’t know is that one simple decision during that job would change my life forever.
At the time, I was a sports reporter for the Edmonton Sun newspaper in one of Canada’s great sport cities. I lived in press boxes, stadiums/arenas, airports and hotels. My main responsibility was covering the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos – meaning that I traveled everywhere the team played.
Every spring, summer and fall for nearly five years, I criss-crossed Canada to cover football games. My life revolved around meeting a 10:30 p.m. deadline almost every night because that was when all the stories in the sports section had to be submitted – so the paper could be sent to print for the morning edition on the streets of Edmonton and it’s 1 million metro population.
Remember, this was almost 20 years ago (2005-2009) when newspapers were still delivered to your mailbox, sold at gas stations, supermarkets, street boxes, airports, hotels – everywhere. The internet and social media weren’t dominating the world, yet.
I loved the pressure of meeting the nighttime deadline, which was especially wicked on game nights. BUT that is what led to me to start running. I started to take my runners on road trips because I loved the extra adrenaline shot on game days. I would run in the afternoon and then head to the stadiums at night to cover games.
Sometime in 2009, I set the goal of running 50 marathons in 50 States. Keep in mind, I had never run a marathon in my life. I had no clue what I was doing at that point.
But from the moment I stepped on the course for my first marathon later that year in Dallas, Texas – I was hooked. That changed my life forever. From that day, you can trace these steps to today:
- I started running in huge marathons and learning how the best events operate.
- After moving back to Saskatchewan in 2011, I was incredibly fortunate to join the Saturday Morning Running Crew, which is now a group of dozen great buddies that get together every weekend no matter the weather (see the photo above from last weekend)!
- Step Up for Mental Health was born during my time at Cameco – thanks to an employee base that cares deeply about mental health
- In 2024, I founded 321 Go Running – a company that operates running events for charity. This year, 321 Go Running will operate eight running events across the Prairies – all for charity. Thanks to the amazing community we live in, we hope that the Step Up for Mental Health run in September will reach almost 10,000 participants this year.
- And today, I start as the editor of the Brainsport Times. I am excited to be using my journalism/communications degree for another role!
I give you that backstory as a way to introduce myself to you. Andrea Hill has left HUGE shoes to fill in this role. I enjoyed every single conversation I’ve had with Andrea over the years. She is a gem.
I am excited to try to follow her legacy. Each week, you will find interesting stories on the running community in Saskatchewan.
BUT, most importantly, I am looking forward to chatting with many of the readers of this newsletter. PLEASE email me with your story suggestions and the accomplishments of your friends and family members. We live in a great province that is full of amazing people! I hope to receive lots of emails to jonathan@brainsport.ca.
