I am incredibly grateful for the progress I have made in running and the joy it brings me, and I have peace knowing that I am so much more than a runner. I thank God for the gift and joy he has given me in running. I grew up in a very small town in northern BC. When you live somewhere this small, with limited options for how to spend your leisure time you only have a few options. Most people skied or played hockey; coming from a large family, this was not really an option as the time and financial commitments for those sports was too much for 5 kids! I was fortunate to find running in high school.

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In February, I crossed the finish line of the Vancouver First Half Marathon in 1:17:56—an over two-minute personal best. I was elated. What made that race truly meaningful wasn’t just the time, but how it reflected a more balanced, joyful approach to sport than I’ve ever taken before. I trained hard, yes—but I also lived fully. During the build, I spent three weeks mountain biking in Australia and almost every weekend snowboarding in Whistler. That race answered a question I’ve carried for years: can you truly strike a balance between success in sport and other joys in life? For me, the answer is yes.

This race was a reflection of how I’ve come to define success in running—and in life—and how my relationship with food and fuelling has evolved alongside it.

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My first experience with running was in 2016. While I was in fairly good shape from working on my family farm, I was looking for a new challenge. Running infrequently a few times a week and usually at maximum effort, I entered a few 5k races with decent results.

I took an unintended break from exercise as I was focused on a new career. With my menieres disease (similar to vertigo) flaring up frequently, I had to prioritize my health again. Changing the type of work I did, my food choices and exercising retuned very positive results. I started running again and seeing improvement.

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My name is Courtney Hufsmith, I am a 24 year old marketing professional and elite runner from Saskatoon, SK. For the past year and a half, I have been living in Calgary, AB where I began my professional career after earning a marketing degree from the Edwards School of Business. This fall, I will be returning to my hometown and starting a new job, while continuing to run and train with a primary focus on the 1500m track  event.

Growing up, I always identified as a soccer player. I loved the sport and I played until I reached my grade 12 year in high school. At that point, my soccer coach indicated that he saw more potential for me in running than he did in soccer. That was hard to take at the time, as I didn’t truly enjoy running as I did soccer. I always ran in the cross country and track meets in school and placed well with minimal to nil training (within Saskatchewan); but, I was by no means a national level athlete. 

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