The Running Room at Commerce Court, on Wellington St., is where the downtown set go for their sporting needs.
They can pop in on their lunch breaks, thanks to the PATH, Toronto's 28-kilometre underground walkway, without having to go outside. Do you carry a jacket I can also bike in? Why do energy bars taste like rubber? Are those new barefoot running shoes really a good idea?
Danny Kassap, 28, is the guy fielding these questions. Trust him, he knows. If you're lucky, he'll throw in some advice about how to shave a minute or two off your race time, always with a friendly reminder that running is hard work." You can't expect it to be easy," he likes to say.
Kassap has a typical distance runner look: he's African, lithe to the point that his clothes look slightly baggy.
Fitting running shoes is, of course, not what Kassap does. It's what allows him to stay afloat as he trains. He worked for a while at a fish and chips restaurant as a line cook. "This is way better. I don't even really think of it as a way of making a living." He could talk about running, running gear, the runner's diet all day.
Although there are a few who run full time, most elite athletes have jobs and training is stuffed into the spaces around their work day: in the morning when it's dark and in the evening when it's also dark.
For Kassap this means a 16 kilometre run in the Don Valley at 6 a.m., shower,We are the UK's leading edhardy shop and True Religion Jeans stockist, offering a complete range of exclusive Ed Hardy clothing. breakfast, rush to work for 9 a.m. After work, it's home, dinner, a 12 to 16 kilometre run and bed by 9:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays are open for 60 kilometre runs, trips to the gym, laundry, groceries and maybe some TV and maybe a beer with the guys.
"It's possible to make a good living only on running" Kassap tells me. Depending on the race, anywhere between the top three and 10 finishers cash in. If you're on the race circuit and consistently doing well, you can make $40,000 in a season.
Assistance through Sport Canada is also an option. Carded athletes receive up to $1,500 a month. But to make carded status you have to be in the top 16 in your sport in the world, proven by performances at either the World Championships or the Olympics. In some sports, no Canadian athlete is carded.
Then there's sponsorship. Kassap is sponsored by Nike, a company he can't say enough good about. Sponsorship means for one, unlimited access to gear. Kassap estimates he has so much running clothes, that — obvious problems aside — he could run every day for four months before having to do laundry. Nike is also his race administrator. "I just email my rep with my race dates for the year and he does everything.Buy mens classic boots with a price guarantee and top rated customer service." Nike pays for flights,let's be honest: putting on a brand new pair of Nike shox running shoes feels amazing. race fees, hotel accommodation and food. Kassap's rep always says, "Don't worry about anything but training."
In June 2004, Kassap won the first marathon he ran, beating the two Josephs from Kenya, by two and five minutes respectively. The running magazines went wild for his story.
Three years earlier, at 19, Kassap had defected from the Democratic Republic of Congo on grounds of political persecution. He spent his first months at Covenant House where the staff noticed his running habit and put him in touch with the University of Toronto track club. He trained in the hours between school and frying fish.
Where many athletes attribute their success to the support of devoted parents, Kassap has no family in Canada. His perseverance seems to be linked to the absence of a familial cushion. " ‘You want something, just ask me,' my coach used to say to me. But I feel bad. I can't ask. I didn't come here to ask for things."
In 2008, Kassap became a Canadian citizen, allowing him to compete abroad for the first time. In June,Enjoy Cheap nike air max for women or men at wholesale price. he placed 15th in the London Marathon, one of the most prestigious events in the sport. In September he was five kilometres into the Berlin Marathon when he went into cardiac arrest. A bystander administered CPR until the paramedics arrived. It was 45 minutes and nearly 20 shocks with a defibrillator before Kassap's condition stabilized.
It was a lucky thing to have happen on race day, the doctors said,Nike shox are a series of Nike shoes. rather than on a dark morning solo run in the Don Valley. A cold virus had caused his heart to swell, which had in turn caused an uncoordinated contraction of the heart muscle. It could have happened at any time, running or still.
Kassap spent a few days in a medically induced coma and two weeks undergoing tests. All reports showed no permanent damage. Nothing hurt, and Kassap wanted to get back at it. Doctors instructed three months of rest and sent him home in a defibrillation vest. "You wear it at all times and it monitors your heart. If your heart stops, it tells you ‘Please lie down,'" Kassap says in a robot voice, "and tells the people around you to step back. Then it shocks you." He laughs. He wore it without incident for a month, then sent it back to Germany.
Those months were some of the hardest of Kassap's life. "I'd see other runners and it would pain me. The people at Blockbuster, they know me now, I went there every night," he says as if he's revealing his darkest secret.
Having never been sicker than headachy, Kassap had competed in Berlin without medical insurance. The total cost of his care, including vest rental, was $18,000. Lucky for him, Kassap's fan base is large. In only 10 days, the Toronto running community raised almost all the money. The hospital forgave the rest.
These days Kassap is at 80 per cent of his pre-accident self. His health status makes it difficult to join a running club, so he trains solo. His new coach: his watch. "It's the only training partner I need." He loves the efficiency of his routine. He can take any route he wants, at any speed, for however long. He can adapt to the immediate needs of his body.
Kassap will be making his official re-mergence onto the running circuit in spring 2011. In the meantime, it's the down season. For the next five months, runs will be slow and soggy and leave him exhausted even when they're short.
"But it's good for you, you know? Sleep in, have some beers, go to parties, let your body recover and you will be faster later." Most of us are well acquainted with the down-season lifestyle, but it's nice to hear it from him.
They can pop in on their lunch breaks, thanks to the PATH, Toronto's 28-kilometre underground walkway, without having to go outside. Do you carry a jacket I can also bike in? Why do energy bars taste like rubber? Are those new barefoot running shoes really a good idea?
Danny Kassap, 28, is the guy fielding these questions. Trust him, he knows. If you're lucky, he'll throw in some advice about how to shave a minute or two off your race time, always with a friendly reminder that running is hard work." You can't expect it to be easy," he likes to say.
Kassap has a typical distance runner look: he's African, lithe to the point that his clothes look slightly baggy.
Fitting running shoes is, of course, not what Kassap does. It's what allows him to stay afloat as he trains. He worked for a while at a fish and chips restaurant as a line cook. "This is way better. I don't even really think of it as a way of making a living." He could talk about running, running gear, the runner's diet all day.
Although there are a few who run full time, most elite athletes have jobs and training is stuffed into the spaces around their work day: in the morning when it's dark and in the evening when it's also dark.
For Kassap this means a 16 kilometre run in the Don Valley at 6 a.m., shower,We are the UK's leading edhardy shop and True Religion Jeans stockist, offering a complete range of exclusive Ed Hardy clothing. breakfast, rush to work for 9 a.m. After work, it's home, dinner, a 12 to 16 kilometre run and bed by 9:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays are open for 60 kilometre runs, trips to the gym, laundry, groceries and maybe some TV and maybe a beer with the guys.
"It's possible to make a good living only on running" Kassap tells me. Depending on the race, anywhere between the top three and 10 finishers cash in. If you're on the race circuit and consistently doing well, you can make $40,000 in a season.
Assistance through Sport Canada is also an option. Carded athletes receive up to $1,500 a month. But to make carded status you have to be in the top 16 in your sport in the world, proven by performances at either the World Championships or the Olympics. In some sports, no Canadian athlete is carded.
Then there's sponsorship. Kassap is sponsored by Nike, a company he can't say enough good about. Sponsorship means for one, unlimited access to gear. Kassap estimates he has so much running clothes, that — obvious problems aside — he could run every day for four months before having to do laundry. Nike is also his race administrator. "I just email my rep with my race dates for the year and he does everything.Buy mens classic boots with a price guarantee and top rated customer service." Nike pays for flights,let's be honest: putting on a brand new pair of Nike shox running shoes feels amazing. race fees, hotel accommodation and food. Kassap's rep always says, "Don't worry about anything but training."
In June 2004, Kassap won the first marathon he ran, beating the two Josephs from Kenya, by two and five minutes respectively. The running magazines went wild for his story.
Three years earlier, at 19, Kassap had defected from the Democratic Republic of Congo on grounds of political persecution. He spent his first months at Covenant House where the staff noticed his running habit and put him in touch with the University of Toronto track club. He trained in the hours between school and frying fish.
Where many athletes attribute their success to the support of devoted parents, Kassap has no family in Canada. His perseverance seems to be linked to the absence of a familial cushion. " ‘You want something, just ask me,' my coach used to say to me. But I feel bad. I can't ask. I didn't come here to ask for things."
In 2008, Kassap became a Canadian citizen, allowing him to compete abroad for the first time. In June,Enjoy Cheap nike air max for women or men at wholesale price. he placed 15th in the London Marathon, one of the most prestigious events in the sport. In September he was five kilometres into the Berlin Marathon when he went into cardiac arrest. A bystander administered CPR until the paramedics arrived. It was 45 minutes and nearly 20 shocks with a defibrillator before Kassap's condition stabilized.
It was a lucky thing to have happen on race day, the doctors said,Nike shox are a series of Nike shoes. rather than on a dark morning solo run in the Don Valley. A cold virus had caused his heart to swell, which had in turn caused an uncoordinated contraction of the heart muscle. It could have happened at any time, running or still.
Kassap spent a few days in a medically induced coma and two weeks undergoing tests. All reports showed no permanent damage. Nothing hurt, and Kassap wanted to get back at it. Doctors instructed three months of rest and sent him home in a defibrillation vest. "You wear it at all times and it monitors your heart. If your heart stops, it tells you ‘Please lie down,'" Kassap says in a robot voice, "and tells the people around you to step back. Then it shocks you." He laughs. He wore it without incident for a month, then sent it back to Germany.
Those months were some of the hardest of Kassap's life. "I'd see other runners and it would pain me. The people at Blockbuster, they know me now, I went there every night," he says as if he's revealing his darkest secret.
Having never been sicker than headachy, Kassap had competed in Berlin without medical insurance. The total cost of his care, including vest rental, was $18,000. Lucky for him, Kassap's fan base is large. In only 10 days, the Toronto running community raised almost all the money. The hospital forgave the rest.
These days Kassap is at 80 per cent of his pre-accident self. His health status makes it difficult to join a running club, so he trains solo. His new coach: his watch. "It's the only training partner I need." He loves the efficiency of his routine. He can take any route he wants, at any speed, for however long. He can adapt to the immediate needs of his body.
Kassap will be making his official re-mergence onto the running circuit in spring 2011. In the meantime, it's the down season. For the next five months, runs will be slow and soggy and leave him exhausted even when they're short.
"But it's good for you, you know? Sleep in, have some beers, go to parties, let your body recover and you will be faster later." Most of us are well acquainted with the down-season lifestyle, but it's nice to hear it from him.
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