About Runners Feed LTD.
Headquarters: London, Ontario CANADA

Runners Feed was established in 2011 to provide runners with a means to better understand and enjoy the sport of running.  It is our goal to provide daily information that will feed the desire to become a better runner and healthier person.  From inspiring articles, to “how-to” videos, to recipes and apparel reviews–Runners Feed has it covered.  You may catch us interviewing your favorite running celebrity, or see us out at running event near you.

All of our contributors and coaches understand and respect the time, energy and patience required to master the sport of running and we hope this is a consistent theme you can come to expect throughout the years.  Sorry folks no “5 min to 5K” articles here.

We thoroughly enjoy using the art of running as a platform to teach humans some of life’s most important lessons including wellness, discipline, perseverance, loyalty and friendship and look forward to being a part of your journey towards success. We have been incredibly well received by the global running community and look forward to continuing to make an impact on the running world.

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Contributors

Brandon Laan – Co-Founder & Coach. @blaan

Brandon is a runner, coach, and entrepreneur.  He spent his undergraduate days at The University of Western Ontario where he captained the Cross Country Team before fleeing to Hawaii Pacific University for graduate school.  He is currently serving as an assistant coach for the U.W.O. Mustangs Cross Country Team after gaining coaching experience at Punahou School and Hawaii Pacific University. He is a Level II Certified USATF coach as well as a certified personal trainer.  His most recent accolades include winning The 2010 GoodLife Toronto Marathon in 2:23, placing second at The 2011 Canadian Marathon Championships in 2:21, and running The NYC Half Marathon in a time of 1:06.

Chantelle Wilder – Co-Founder, Senior Editor & Coach. @Chanty_Marie

Chantelle is a member of the New Balance Silicon Valley racing team and the proud Assistant Coach of the Santa Clara University Cross Country and Track program.  In 2003, Chantelle earned herself a scholarship at The University of Hawaii where she went on to captain the Cross Country and Track & Field Teams.  A few months after graduating and getting married to her biggest fan, Chantelle qualified to compete for CANADA at the 2009 World Cross Country Championships.  In the spring of 2010 she placed 5th at the Canadian Half Marathon Championships in her debut race at this distance and in the spring of 2011 ran a time of 1:16 at The NYC Half Marathon.

Guy Schultz – Coach

Guy is a runner, coach, and intramural coordinator at The University of Western Ontario.  He is a Certified Canadian NCCP Track and Field Level 3 Coach and currently serves as The Associate Head Coach for The University of Western Ontario Cross Country and Track & Field Teams.  He spent his undergraduate days at The University of Alabama where he completed his undergraduate degree  and competed at the NCAA Championships in the steeplechase.  He ventured back to Canada where he received his graduate degree from The University of Western Ontario while winning CIS titles in both cross country and track & field.  Guy has also represented Canada numerous times as a runner and a coach.

Nikki Tufts – Writer & Coach

After competing for Saunders Secondary School, Nikki earned a full-athletic scholarship to Boston College where, as captain, she led her team to the D1 NCAA Cross Country Championships three consecutive years. Furthermore, she has represented Canada on the international level, competing at the World Cross Country Championships. Nikki also holds personal bests of 16:38 and 35:04 for the 5,000m and the 10,000m respectively. Having just returned home to London, Ontario from Boston where she was training with the New Balance Boston team, Nikki is looking to hit the ground running and get back into the London running community!

Greg Wieczorek, CA – Writer and Coach

Greg grew up in the London, Ontario area before pursuing his Bachelor of Commerce degree at Queen’s University, where he graduated with First Class Honours in 2004.  He put his running ambitions on hold while he articled as a Chartered Accountant on Bay Street, earning his designation in 2007.  Since then, Greg has made running a higher priority; he placed as the top Canadian at both the 2010 New York Marathon and 2011 Chicago Marathon, is the Halifax Blue Nose Marathon record holder, and has a personal best of 2:26.  He and his wife, Maura (a registered physiotherapist), own Bluenose Physiotherapy in downtown Halifax.  Maura was Greg’s first coaching pupil, improving from a 4:17 marathon debut to a personal best of 2:58.  Greg now assists others maximize their road race potential through his online coaching service Project PB.

Stephanie Wilson – Writer

Stephanie grew up running on the quicksilver hills of San Jose, California, and has enjoyed the opportunity to train and study in the San Francisco Bay Area.  She recently graduated from Santa Clara University where she captained the Cross Country and Track teams.  After a homesick freshman year at UC Davis, Stephanie transferred to Santa Clara and began her collegiate running career with the Broncos. At first barely fast enough to keep up with the team, Stephanie trained hard and steadily improved. In November 2009, she became Santa Clara’s first Cross-Country All-American, placing 28th at the NCAA Division I National Championships. In the following year, Stephanie suffered repeated stress-fracture injuries, momentarily suspending her racing career.  Since graduating Stephanie has joined one of the Bay Area’s most elite running clubs the New Balance Silicon Valley team.  Stephanie enjoys California literature, nature writing, and hiking with her dog Penny in the county park near her house.

Todd Iacovelli – Writer

Todd is a lover of running, and lives out his passion for the sport through both running and coaching.  When not at his day job, Todd can be found sharing his love of running with others and inspiring both adults and children.  While a runner growing up in Hawaii, he set two Hawaii state high school records and won 8 state titles in both track and cross country.  In college he won the Michigan Intercollegiate 5k and was a Division II Cross Country All American.  Todd has continued to run after college, setting a personal best of 1:10 in the half marathon.  Beset by injuries for much of his career, Todd has focused his energy on learning about the body, and believes in the importance of individualized training programs for each runner he works with.  In 2011, Todd hopes to make his marathon debut and continue to improve both his running and coaching abilities.

Bob Westman – Writer

Bob is a former long sprinter and fan of all things track and field. Born in Lennoxville, Quebec, he now resides in Toronto, and has been a sprint coach with the University of Toronto since 2009. Prior to coaching, Bob attended the University of Western Ontario. As a Western Mustang, he was a 4-time all-Canadian and was named Male Athlete of the Year in 2005. Off the track, he enjoys the Toronto Blue Jays and guiding his fantasy football team, “The Mustang Clan” to victory.

Michael Del Monte – Writer

Michael is a runner with the newly formed club Athletics Toronto. He graduated from the University of Western Ontario (2008) with a degree in Philosophy. He then went to the University of Toronto where he was the captain of the Cross Country and Track and Field team. He was a CIS medalist and set the OUA indoor record in the 1000m (2:23.99). In April of 2010 he completed his Master’s degree in Theological Studies. In the fall of 2010 he took some time out of his studies and went to train and coach in the beautiful setting of West Yorkshire, England. He now lives in High Park, Toronto where he is training and working towards his PhD in the philosophy of religion. Whether through writing, music, photography or film, he is always challenging himself and creating new projects.

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Cheryl Madliger – Writer. @cherylmadliger

Cheryl is a group fitness instructor at the Western Student Recreation Centre at the University of Western Ontario, where she is working towards her degree in Kinesiology.  An avid cyclist, Cheryl has set her sights on completing an Ironman.  Though she’s competed in road races and duathlons and was even part of the inaugural Whistler Gran Fondo ride from Vancouver to Whistler last fall, she still has butterflies when it comes to her first triathlon later this summer.  She is enjoying learning the ropes of this new event.  Not a fan of free time, she also enjoys yoga, baking, and blogging.

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Rob Thomaes – Writer. @MokshaYogaRob

Rob is the Co-Owner and Director of both Moksha Yoga London and Moksha Yoga London West. His first yoga class was way back in 1996, but he didn’t really get serious until 2003. As a former athlete, bodybuilder, and personal trainer, he was big, bulky, and tight. Yoga changed his physique, healed his injuries, transformed his athleticism…and made him a believer! With thousands of hours of training under his belt, he is a Registered Yoga Teacher through the Yoga Alliance, a member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists, and a Level IV Thai Massage Therapist. Rob is passionate about improving the performance of high-level athletes and weekend warriors. He also specializes in rehabilitating accident victims and volunteers his time teaching yoga to at-risk and incarcerated populations. He has taught many of the city’s finest athletes and most complicated rehabilitation cases, yet still learns something new about the human body every day. When he has a free moment, he loves to run, weight train, surf, experiment with new fitness routines, and is a published photographer.

Brett Bonisteel – Writer

Brett is a passionate athlete, writer, and huge fan of all things running. Currently residing in Ottawa he trains with the Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club, and enters frequent road races throughout the year. He enjoys a career in the field of health and fitness, and loves to research and write about the elite world of distance running as well as on human rights issues. His current claim to fame in running is placing 20th at the 2010 Ottawa Race Weekend 5K in 16.52- a time he plans to drop significantly. Brett can be found at major road races and track events covering the biggest races. He looks forward to contributing to Runner’s Feed while continuing his education and athletic future.

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Jordan Haddad – Writer

Jordan grew up in London Ontario, and was active from a very young age. She enrolled in dance at the age of 2, and was well-known in her neighborhood for riding a bike with a large orange flag attached to the back because she never had the patience to do anything slowly. Jordan continued to dance, achieving her gold medal in ballet, and at the same time won Silver at OFSAA in Basketball, and Bronze, Silver, and Gold respectively at OFSAA women’s volleyball. She dabbled in track and field at a young age and just recently revisited the running scene in 2011 to start running recreationally, seeking the illusive runners high that avid runners claim.

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Amanda Winslow – Writer

Amanda Winslow is currently a Junior running for Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. Growing up up in Cleveland, Ohio, Amanda began running in grade seven and has been in love with it ever since. After moving to Atlanta, Georgia in her sophomore year of high school, she began to step onto the state and national running scene and decided to take her running to the collegiate level. Since becoming a Seminole, she has been part of the two runner-up Division I NCAA team finishes in cross country, as well as All-American in cross country and twice in the indoor mile. She studies Sports Management and hopes to one day train and inspire young athletes by becoming a coach. Amanda also enjoys creative writing, painting and photography whenever she’s not out enjoying long runs on the lush, sandy trails of Tallahassee.

Jake Shoemaker – Writer

Jake Shoemaker is currently a senior at Dartmouth College where he competes for the Cross Country and Track and Field teams. Growing up as the youngest of four, in a family of athletes, Jake competed in a variety of sports as a kid. Following in the footsteps of his brother – USA Triathlon Olympian Jarrod Shoemaker – Jake decided to focus on running, swimming and baseball in high school. Eventually settling on running, Jake decided to attend Dartmouth College to study American History and English with the hopes of pursuing a career in either education or journalism. He also plans on coaching cross country and swimming. Jake is a certified Spinning instructor and a beginning swim lesson instructor for college students. In his free time, Jake enjoys cooking, playing pool and watching the Boston Bruins.

Adam Hortian – Writer

Adam is a member of the Saucony Hurricane racing team and has represented Canada on 4 occasions as a junior and senior athlete. Adam recieved his Undergraduate degree from Iona College, in New Rochelle, New York, while majoring in Psychology and Theology. Adam also worked on his Masters Degree in Elementary Education at the University of South Florida, where he was a Big East Academic All Star with a 3.7 GPA. Adam Currently resides in Waterloo, Ontario where he lives and trains. Adam’s first writing experience came at Iona College when he wrote an article for Iona College describing his NCAA Cross Country experience.

Cliff Worden-Rogers – Writer

After reading an article by an elite cyclist, Cliff tried cycling and began to see the world in a different perspective.  This began his journey through endurance sports, including many World Championships and victories in a variety of different races. Along the way Cliff obtained a degree in Engineering and will be finishing a Masters in Biomechanics shortly!  Through his latest project, Transition Point Training, Cliff applies the practical side of training with science to help athletes uncover the gray areas of exercise.  Have a question, or want to talk training. Email him, he’d be glad to help.

Ashley Monfort – Writer

Ashley is an anchor/reporter/producer at WHAG-TV, an NBC affiliate in Hagerstown, Maryland.  She majored in Journalism at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and started her career as a producer at the KHNL (now Hawaii News Now) in Honolulu. Ashley earned a full scholarship to run track & field and cross-country for the University of Hawaii at Manoa.  While on the the team she was a part of the indoor mile-relay team that set the school record at 3:53.01 in 2007 and  the 4x800m relay team that broke the school record at 9.01.82 in 2005. She ran everything from the 60-meter to the 800-meter and placed eighth at the 2007 WAC Championships in the 800m.  Ashley is now pursuing her dream as a broadcast journalist and still enjoys running, surfing and hiking.

Jennifer – Writer

Jennifer is a former gymnast turned sprinter turned middle distance runner. She is currently at the University of Ottawa where she is pursuing her Master’s in Intervention and Consultation in the sport domain. Jennifer is a student member of the Canadian Sport Psychology Association. She graduated from the University of Western Ontario where she was captain of the Track and Field team. She continued her running career with the Gee Gees and is the current 1000m CIS champion. She is passionate about bringing athletes to a new level of performance through mental skills training. Jennifer believes that enhancing mental performance is about using these mental skills to help athletes constantly challenge themselves to be better.

Jimmy Flanagan – Music Man

Jimmy was a high school hurdling phenom  and a wide-reciever at The University of Hawaii.  Jimmy continues to coach hurdling at the high school level while building himself a name in the financial planning world.  Jimmy will be posting a weekly playlist that will satisfy every music lover.  Whether you like to crash the dance floor to the latest pop hit, enjoy a sip of coffee at a local cafe to the newest independent artist, or cruise along in your pick-up to the freshest country jam, Jimmy has you covered.  Feel free to check out Jimmy’s musical bio and send Jimmy music suggestions. View Jimmy’s Playlists.

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Olivier Dyason – Reporting Live from the Middle of the Pack

Bouncing from the suburbs to the downtown of Canada’s largest city, Olivier is a full time working professional whose new-found love for running has turned into a new obsession.  After obtaining a B.A. in Film Studies from Carleton University in Ottawa, Olivier began work at the National Film Board of Canada as a Team Leader and Events Coordinator.  Although a middle-of-the-packer now, Olivier hopes to steadily improve his running through constant training and advice from places such as Runners Feed.

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Wellness Team

Jennifer Broxterman – Dietician

Jennifer has been an athlete and nutrition-enthusiast her entire life. Growing up, she excelled in competitive soccer, track and field, cross country, swimming, and ice hockey. While earning her first degree in Life Sciences at Queen’s University, Jennifer was a member of the Women’s Varsity Ice Hockey Team, winning an OUA silver and bronze medal. Jennifer’s athletic career also included four years as a Varsity Rower, split between her time at Queen’s and The University of Western Ontario where she completed a second degree in Foods & Nutrition. While rowing at UWO, Jen successfully won the OUA banner twice, a Canadian Championship, and stroked her varsity boat to win and set a new course record at Head of the Charles in Boston, MA. Currently, Jennifer avidly trains at CrossFit London to stay in shape, and has medalled at the Ontario CrossFit Sectionals in 2009 and 2010.

As a Registered Dietitian and Sports Nutritionist, Jennifer founded a professional nutrition consulting practice that provides clients with personalized nutrition support. Jennifer enjoys working with athletes of all levels, intimately grasping the impact that sports nutrition can have on performance and injury prevention. Jennifer is happy to offer one-on-one nutrition counselling, computerized diet analyses, individualized meal planning, healthy recipes, and practical, time-efficient tips to help making healthy eating the “easy choice” in a busy world. View Nutritional Services offered to Runners Feed athletes. Please email Jennifer at jennifer@runnersfeed.com to set up an appointment.

Dr. Greg Roberts – Chiropractor

Born and raised in London, Ontario, Dr. Greg earned his undergraduate degree in Biology (and Basketball!) from UWO in 1973. He then received his Doctor of Chiropractic from the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College in 1978. This June, 2011 he will be starting his 33rd year in practice. Dr. Greg has enjoyed taking care of many athletes throughout his years of practice. Having played individual and team sports himself, he has developed an appreciation of the athletes’ psyche and the keen awareness they have of their bodies. This has been very helpful in caring for and supporting the athletes as they strive to reach and surpass their goals. Education is also an important component of care at his office. He helps the practice members to not only understand what they are experiencing in their bodies, but also why it is happening, which is integral to long term health, wellness and maximum performance.

Karen Gilbert – Physiotherapist

Karen Gilbert is a graduate from the Honors Kinesiology and Masters of Physiotherapy program at The University of Western Ontario. Karen has post-graduate training in advanced orthopedics, acupuncture, neurological rehabilitation, and physiotherapy for running specific injuries. Karen has been running competitively since the age of 12, training with London Western Track Club, medaling at WOSSA and OFSAA at the High School level, and competing at the Provincial and National Level as a member of the Varsity Cross Country and Track and Field Team at UWO. Post Collegiate Karen and been competing in Marathon’s including a first place finish in the Forest City Marathon in 2009, and 8^th Canadian finisher of the 2009 Chicago Marathon. Other races include the 2010 Corning New York Marathon and the 2011 Toronto Marathon. With many years of running under her belt Karen is no stranger to injury, and working in an Orthopedic Clinic in London as part of the CBI Health Group, she enjoys bringing together her love of running with her love of treating patients. Karen is very excited to be a part of the Runners Feed Team and is eager to share all that she has learned in both physiotherapy and running.

Sarah McIntosh – Personal Trainer

Sarah is a Personal Trainer at Elite Personal Training Studio. She graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a degree in Kinesiology in 2010. During her four years as a Mustang, she competed on the Track and Field team as a shot putter but always had a love for running. Upon completing her undergrad, Sarah took up training to compete in triathlons. She will be making her debut appearance at the Bluewater Triathlon in Sarnia at the end of July. Sarah also enjoys rock climbing, camping or being in the kitchen baking goodies.

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Kari Schneider – Strength Coach

Kari Schneider is an experienced, educated and respected strength coach who has been training nationally competitive and world-class athletes for the last 13 years. In addition to working with top collegiate athletes and Olympians, Kari has a broad scope of practice from chronic pain patients to weight loss clients. She founded Empower Conditioning in Winnipeg Manitoba in 2006 and has relocated the gym to London Ontario after returning to Canada after 2 years of working and living in Turkey. Kari is highly educated with a kitchen sink of degrees and certifications including the following: Masters of Science, Bachelors of Physical Education, Certified Athletic Therapist, Certified Exercise Physiologist (through the Canadian Society of Exercise Physiology), Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (through the National Strength and Conditioning Association). When Kari isn’t training athletes she can be found running, racing (running and eco-adventure races) hiking, biking, snowboarding, climbing, lifting and best of all being a mom!

Technical

Chan Yin – Co-Founder, Director. @chany

Chan is the technical lead at Runners Feed Ltd. and can be often found behind the scenes at video and photo shoots. His devotion to tech development will help RunnersFeed.com to become a top resource within the running community. He has yet to run 1K and spends most of his time in front of a computer screen. With Brandon Laan as his business partner, we’re looking to add some mileage to Chan’s resume. Chan is an entrepreneur with a passion for start-ups and business strategies. Chan is also a founder and COO of Tact Marketing Inc operating out of London Ontario; bringing start-up sites such as RunnersFeed.com, RaceRoster.com, OfferPipe.com,  Dealzinga.com, and Presentify.me.

Become a Contributor: Do you have what it takes to become a Runners Feed Contributor?  Contact support@runnersfeed.com to find out.