Education

Queen and King of the Hill 2025 is officially in the books, and over the last four weeks, runners in Canmore and Squamish have been grinding up steep trails, comparing splits, and quietly pushing their limits.

With just days to go until the Minotaur SkyRace, we turned to Jessie for the ultimate lowdown on the course and race strategies. This beast of a race promises gnarly climbs, wild descents, and jaw-dropping views that’ll have your legs and lungs begging for mercy. Your gear’s all set—now let’s get the inside scoop on how to tackle this epic adventure and make every wild mile count!

The Minotaur Skyrace has quickly become a favourite stop on the Canadian trail running scene, and for a reason. Known for having a relentlessly technical course, the only Canadian stop of the SkyRunning World Series seriously tests competitors both mentally and physically. With less than two weeks until race day, we asked in-house Minotaur connoisseur Jessie McAuley for his tips.

Every skier and trail runner follows the weather to some extent. What's already a nationwide topic of discussion becomes a whole different story to us outdoors enthusiasts.

No matter where you find yourself in the scale of "we'll see when we get there" to "I follow every model religiously", there are some incredible resources out there to make your life easier and help you plan your next adventures. Here are our five picks.

Have a road race coming up? Us too. Training supremely mediocre? Us too. Fortunately, Liz Halleran has some wisdom to clear the fog and get us back to the sweet spot for training.

What have you been up to this summer? For some competitive runners in the Bow Valley, it’s been all about chasing fastest known times.

As our trails get more and more crowded, trail runners need to think about leaving a positive impact. It’s all about showing our respect for the environment and other trail users.

Alma joined the RunUphill team last year for our “Learn to Run" clinic.  This Spring, she trained hard for the half marathon at the Rocky Mountain Soap Co. Women’s Run. On May 16th 2020, Alma ran her own virtual half-marathon in 2 hours and 46 minutes!

The Marathon du Mont-Blanc has become an iconic race on the European calendar. With over 10 500 racers and 30 000 supporters from more than 80 countries, it is one of the biggest trail running events in the world. 2019 marked the 41st edition, and with eight different races races (from kid’s races to a 90 km race) to choose from, there was definitely something for every level of runner. RunUphill’s Gavin and Joel were in Chamonix to race the 42 km event last weekend and both had a blast! Thinking about signing up for 2020? Here are some of their thoughts. 

We are so fortunate in Canada to be able to share the National and Provincial parks with our dogs. As a trail runner, biker, hiker, skier and dog owner, I love being able to enjoy my favorite outdoor activities with my ever-enthusiastic adventure partner, Arnie. We are often on the trails with other dog owners, so I wanted to share with the trail community some of the frequently asked questions I get asked as a veterinarian about ‘trail dogs’.