The new runners

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When Louise Tremblay's 53-year-old neighbour dropped dead of a heart attack last year, the 51-year-old decided it was time to get herself in shape.

A downhill skier in winter and occasional walker or cyclist in the summer, Tremblay was encouraged by a colleague to take up running.

"My neighbour was never sick a day in his life," said Tremblay, who works at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada near Ottawa's Rideau Canal, an ideal place to run. "I said, 'It's now or never,' and started running on January 2."

She found her first four or five running "lessons" at the Running Room somewhat challenging, and confessed to her friend she didn't think she would be able to follow through.

"But I told myself not to be a big baby, and now I love it. It's a new revelation for me and I ask myself, 'Why did I wait so long?'"

Tremblay started at a two-minute-walk-one-minute-run pace for a total of 20 minutes. By the end of the winter season, she had lost 12 pounds, dropped three pants sizes, changed her diet dramatically to fit her new lifestyle and was running three and a half kilometres at a stretch. Two and a half months after she started running, she abandoned her plans to run the National Capital Marathon's 5K race to go for the big 10K.

"I feel more invigorated. I feel like I have more energy and I'm definitely ready for the race."

Dana Yamamura, 38, took up running this year to round out her exercise program.

"In the spring, summer and fall, I go mountain biking in Gatineau Park and I often bike to work to show my support for greening the environment. In the winter, I enjoy skating on the canal, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. But I realized I did not have a "sport" that was "all-season," that I could anywhere.

"So when a friend told me about her New Year's resolution to join the Running Room's learn-to-run clinic, I thought it would be fun to sign up."

Yamamura is no fitness slouch, having taught aerobics at university, "spinning" since 2000, mountain biking since 2002 and an ultimate Frisbee player for eight years before she injured her knee skiing. She also owns her own canoe for leisure paddles in the summer.

Running challenged Yamamura to slow down her pace and walk when instructed, but even February's coldest spells did not discourage her.

"I'm too goal-oriented to quit in the middle of something. And I feel great that I have improved my running style so that it now feels light and easy."

As a practice run, Yamamura competed in the St. Patrick's Day race on March 11, and placed fourth in her age category (women aged 30 to 39), completing the five kilometres in less than 28 minutes.

"I'm way ahead of where I had hoped to be, so that's very, very exciting. The St. Paddy's Day race helped me test myself, to know what is possible, and has helped me prepare mentally for the National Capital Race."

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Susan Hickman