Meet the brand ambassadors: |Joyce Law|

Where do you live?

Toronto.

What are your running goals for 2019?

• Sub 2:50 at Around the Bay 30K
• Sub 4:00 at Toronto Marathon
• Sub 1:50 at Beaches Half
• Complete my first triathlon at Iron Girl Grimsby

Where is your favourite place to run?

I like to explore the city so I love any kind of destination run.  I run with the North York RunNinjas and we do destination runs about once a month.  In December, we ran to “Kringlewood” (a Toronto residential street lined with giant inflatable Santas) . . . in our ugly sweaters.  After that, we ran to Nathan Phillips Square and took pictures at the Lego mural.  It was so much fun!  We have done food-themed runs which are always great.  We have run for bagels, cookies, and chocolate.  The destinations don’t even have to be fancy.  Sometimes we just run to streets with cool names like “Sesame St.”, “Resolution Cres.”, and “Unicorn Ave.”

What are your favourite races?

I did 12 races in 2018 and they were all memorable for different reasons.

I loved The San Francisco Marathon because that was my first marathon, I saw Mark Zuckerberg on the course and took a selfie (!). It was my first race where my family from Hong Kong watched me cross the finish line.

Closer to home, my favourite race of 2018 was Shakespeare Runs the Night 30k.  It was a small night race, which made it very intimate.  People were encouraged to dress up.  The race swag and medal were awesome, post race food was good, and we even got free race photos!  Kudos to the organizers — it was the best race ever!

Who inspires you?

Jim Willett is the founder and leader of the RunNinjas. He has changed my life.  He is a cancer survivor and an ultrarunner.  He has run ultras on five continents, he was the record holder for the Bruce Trail, and, for his first two marathons, he ran from Fredericton to Ottawa.  What I admire most about Jim is that he truly cares about people, makes everyone feel welcome, and is there to support and encourage each one of us on our journey.

This spring, he will be going on an epic journey to donate 875 pairs of socks to homeless shelters. As an ultrarunner, Jim is a bit obsessed with socks and it turns out that socks are the No. 1 most-requested clothing item at shelters.  He will be running 875 km starting at Hamilton’s Around the Bay 30k and finishing in Boston at the Boston Marathon. Find out more here.

What do you love best about running?

I love the running community and how running brings people together. Everyone is so encouraging, supportive, and there is so much accountability.  I’m so grateful that I found the North York RunNinjas.  They have become my friends and my family.

What do you find the most challenging?

Stopping myself from signing up for more races!

What are a couple of your favourite tunes to run to?

Since I run with people most of the time, I don’t run to music.  We run-chat!

What do you do when you aren’t running?

I work full-time and I have two kids so they keep me pretty busy. I also enjoy cooking, baking, and just hanging out with friends over dinner.

Favourite quote(s)?

Running is a celebration of what your body can do. 

I love this quote because it changes my mindset from “I can’t/don’t want to run” to “I’m grateful for my ability to run.”