Canada Goose 2026- Meet Your New Race Directors

It’s only a couple weeks away! Canada Goose 2026. A 6, 12 or 24 hour event where people run 4 kilometre loops around Wascana Park sounds like an awful way to spend a day but it’s actually a bloody good time! The community real comes together and makes this feel like an all day fun fest where people suffer together and see familiar faces the whole time. This year Jackie Myers and Melissa Burns will be running the show and in this episode we get to know them and their reasons for becoming the race directors of this iconic Regina running event and what you can expect on race day. 

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Artwork by Gavin de Lint 

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Thank you to the Burning Hell for the use of their song Holidaymakers. Check them out at 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

The last day of the summer vacation We stopped in at the gas station We walked along the train tracks We didn't think about going back You are listening to the Saskatchewan podcast with your host Jason Burns, a podcast where we talk to Saskatchewan runners about the people and places that inspire them.

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Drink water and coffee with cream. The kind that comes in those little plastic things. I was wearing the wrong shoes that day.

SPEAKER_01 0:35

They were an episode of the Saskatchewan podcast. We are going to do a Canada Goose preview with race directors Jackie Myers and Melissa Burns. How are you guys doing tonight?

SPEAKER_03 0:46

Fantastic. So good.

SPEAKER_01 0:47

That's good. I'm glad I said both of your names right because my last guest, I had screwed up his name a little bit.

SPEAKER_03 0:53

If you didn't know my last name, there might be trouble. There might be trouble, yes.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

So Melissa has been on the podcast before as a co-host and as a guest and as a um little adventure podcast we did when she did a 24-hour challenge at Saskatchewan Landing. So if you care to hear more from Melissa, which I don't, you can uh go on the uh But I always do. Yeah, but you can go back in the archives and find those couple of um really good episodes that people really like. And so, Jackie, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself before we get into the race, just so people know who you are and why you're race directing.

SPEAKER_02 1:29

Sure. My name is Jackie, and I am friends with Melissa Burns, and that's how I'm here. Um but I started running a handful of years ago, uh short version as I used to do some Spartan races, and I wanted to do more longer and longer Spartan races, and I realized if I wanted to do that, I had to start running. So then I started increasing my running a bit and then kind of dropped the Spartan race, and I've kept going with the running. So that's what brings me here today.

SPEAKER_01 1:57

Well, that is good. Thanks for sharing that. So you guys are as of 2026 the new race directors for the uh Canada Goose, which those who don't know, it is a 24-hour event that takes place every June in Regina around Wascana Lake.

SPEAKER_03 2:14

It has been all over the place before. It's like um time-wise, it's been in May, it's been in June. Okay, but this year it will be in June. This year it is June 27th.

SPEAKER_01 2:23

How about we say early spring? Late spring, early summer.

SPEAKER_03 2:28

There you go.

SPEAKER_01 2:28

All right. And what else does this event entail?

SPEAKER_02 2:33

Well, it's a bit of a unique event in that it's the only 24-hour event that exists in Saskatchewan. And it's not really just a road race, it's not really just an ultra, it's not really a backyard event, it's kind of its own-timed event where people run four-kilometer loops around our lovely Wascana Lake, and they sign up for a six-hour event, a 12-hour event, and a 20 or a 24-hour event. And it's really about challenging themselves to complete whatever distance that they can and want to within that time. And with no pressure.

SPEAKER_03 3:08

I love that aspect of this race. There's no pressure of a time you have to, you know, you don't have to be done this loop by within an hour, or you don't have to hit a certain distance before a cutoff time. It's yeah, there's a lot more um room for people to explore it at their own, yeah, at their own liking.

SPEAKER_01 3:28

And if you want to run for one lap and then have a three-hour nap, that's completely up to you. There's no no start time you have to restart a lap at or anything.

SPEAKER_02 3:36

No, everyone's allowed to just go. And so some people walk, some people run, some people do a combination of both. You have the opportunity to switch directions if you want to. And what I like about this race is it really celebrates everybody getting out there and community, but then also helps push people, go for their like furthest distance, practice running at nighttime. There's just lots of really cool things and experiences you can get out of this run. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:00

For sure. And what are your own personal histories with uh Canada Goose? You can go first, Jackie.

SPEAKER_02 4:07

I don't have too much. So mine's short and sweet. I've actually never participated in the event myself, but I've helped crew some runners through the event before. So I've been around in a supporting role, but never actually ran it myself. So this is kind of my big debut.

SPEAKER_03 4:24

That's pretty cool that you've signed up to be there, like we're gonna be there all day, and you really don't know what's gonna happen. I'm ready to roll at the punches. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:35

And Melissa, what have you done at the goose?

SPEAKER_03 4:37

I have run it twice. Um yeah, I think we did the first time for us was in like 22 or something, and then 23. And I was signed up to do it last year, but it got smoked out and it wasn't able to run.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

Yes. And you put up a pretty reasonable distance, I believe. I don't remember exactly what it was.

SPEAKER_03 4:56

I know the first time was like over a hundred, like just over, like maybe we did 104 or something like that. Yeah. A little bit more the next year.

SPEAKER_01 5:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:05

But that second time included a three-hour nap in the camper van that was parked in the parking lot.

SPEAKER_01 5:09

And then didn't you once do your last three laps with bleeding feet and flip-flops?

SPEAKER_03 5:13

Yep. After that nap, I woke up and couldn't.

SPEAKER_01 5:16

I was just uh asking you your distance just to show people the diverse, like there might be people who do eight kilometers, and there's people. I know our friend John Solman once did 100 miles in 24 hours.

SPEAKER_03 5:28

I actually can tell you what the course records are.

SPEAKER_02 5:31

So for the course record, the full distance, and for the men's is 204 kilometers.

SPEAKER_04 5:36

Good lord.

SPEAKER_02 5:37

Yeah. And then and the women's 175 kilometers. Yeah. So it's really neat because it's a really awesome race, one to just like push your limits, but two to use it as a training opportunity because you get to come back to your base camp so you can try different shoes if you want, try new fueling strategies, try, like I said, running at night, push for some like further distances in training than you would normally do. So it's kind of unique in that way that you get it's a safe place to like experiment with things too. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:09

And there'll be a large community of people there to support you. So you're not like doing these all these big training things alone.

SPEAKER_01 6:16

Yeah. And if you just think of it, I've I've said this on past episodes, but it kind of seems like the worst thing running four kilometer loops on pavement over and over again, day and night. But it's it's kind of a magical experience somehow, just because there's so many people going running different directions, and then also like the regular park life is happening as well. And changes from morning to afternoon to night. It's interesting just to see the how the whole community uses the park. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:40

Yeah. And the changes, yeah, of the of the day going from like the sun rising to the heat of the afternoon and and back again. And the fun different types of people that are out there. Yeah, at that time. I'm really hoping we see Snake on a skateboard guy this year. Haven't seen him in a few years.

SPEAKER_01 6:58

An Elvis karaoke guy out of the back of his like Monte Carlo. Oh, he's there all the time. And then logistically, the race is just um kind of at the marina parking lot, right? Everybody sets up there in case anyone was wondering how that all works.

SPEAKER_03 7:12

Yeah, we'll have our start line there, our aid station there, our racers can set up their own aid stations out of their cars there, or just, you know, sometimes people just use the little boulevard and set up a little camp. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:26

And people bring like their own tent shelter things and it's kind of take over the whole parking lot. Yep. Yeah, and you guys mentioned that there is um obviously it goes through the night what uh say if someone's listening to this and they're like, I kind of feel spooked running through the night what safety protocols are in place to keep people safe.

SPEAKER_02 7:43

Yeah, don't blame you. That's totally fair. We're thinking about that. So we do one, just to touch on, we do have like a medical tent setup too for like that type of thing to deal with if it's hot, cold, whatever runners may need. But then also through the night, one, we're really lucky that we have quite an even split in our registration between 6, 12, and 24 hours. So if you sign up for 24 hours, you're not gonna be by yourself out there. We have a third of our runners doing that event. But then we also have volunteers that are out on our bikes doing a bike patrol to make sure you're not feeling alone out there to check on you, make sure that you're safe and all of that too.

SPEAKER_03 8:17

We actually also have a couple of volunteers coming to just walk with people or run with people loops in the overnight section, just if they just want a buddy on top of you know having the bike patrols.

SPEAKER_02 8:28

Yeah, which is so lovely. Like the community at this event is just really, really special. And the goose is turning 10 this year. The first one is back in 2016, so we're hoping to make it a little bit of a birthday party to celebrate.

SPEAKER_03 8:41

Expect big things. I heard a rumor about maybe a pancake breakfast, sunrise pancake breakfast. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 8:47

Maybe some extra treats. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 8:50

That's when I'll show up. And uh yeah, getting back to the uh overnight biking thing, I remember running through the night that it was almost like you felt so safe it was almost annoying because it felt like every five minutes someone's on a bike was like, You doing okay? You need any help? Everything's going good, which is obviously super awesome.

SPEAKER_03 9:08

So as a lady, and I was mostly alone, I loved it. I was just like, I know Vern's gonna be back in a second, and I knew that somebody was taking taking care of it and really keeping an eye on things. I felt extra safe and good.

SPEAKER_01 9:22

All right.

SPEAKER_02 9:23

And you mentioned running, we didn't even talk about that. You've had your own goose experience. Tell us about that, Jason Burns.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

I don't know if I remember a hundred percent, but I feel like I ran like 119. That's not a number divided by four though. 120, something like that, yeah. So that was um, yeah, that was my experience was it was just fun to like, you know, get in the afternoon and be like, why am I doing this? This is awful, my legs are dying, and then four hours later I was running some of my fastest laps for a while. And yeah, that's kind of the the fun thing about doing doing those long distance events. But yeah, I just really, really loved it. I think I did it twice, and then the one year we had just bought in our camper van. So I think I mostly just like kind of treated it more like a backyard ultra. I think I started a lap every hour, and then I just piss around in the van and like warm up pizza just because I could, and turn on the air conditioner, and make sure the Bluetooth speaker was still working, and so yeah. And then I would there was um actually former guest Jan Sellinger every time I'd pass her, she'd be like, Wow, you're really flying. But I'm like, I'm not actually like lapping you, I'm just re-catching up to you because you're you're running continuously and I'm stopping every half hour to fart around in the van. But yeah, that was uh that is an awesome event.

SPEAKER_03 10:36

It's neat how you said um the longer you go, and sometimes you get that second win and third wind in a shorter event, like say you're doing you know, uh a 50k or whatever, not that that's a short event, obviously, but you don't get that time to see if you can come back sometimes. So this that's a another good point about a 24-hour for sure.

SPEAKER_01 10:56

And we should mention too, it's kind of like the local community too, but there are people like um I can't remember her name, but the one lady from Colleen, yeah, from Winnipeg or Yorkden.

SPEAKER_04 11:05

New York.

SPEAKER_01 11:05

Yorkton, yeah. That um runner she comes most years. I don't know if she signed up this year. Awesome, yeah. Oh, that's fantastic. Yeah, and then there's um the lady from Winnipeg who like Sue Lucas.

SPEAKER_02 11:16

Sue Lucas or female course record holder. Oh, okay. Well, there you go.

SPEAKER_01 11:20

So yeah, it's kind of local, but also like people, it's kind of a bit of a destination.

SPEAKER_02 11:24

Yeah, we have someone from the U.S. coming this year, and we had a couple like spread out among the prairie provinces. So I haven't looked at the map recently, but I just looked at it.

SPEAKER_03 11:33

There's for sure some Calgary, some Winnipeg, and then like also from you know, not just for China.

SPEAKER_01 11:38

There's you know, in Saskatchewan, we've got a there's a few places, so and yeah, more and more I hear of people even from Saskatoon or other places when I interview them, and they'll mention, like, oh, I gotta get to that Canada Goose some year.

SPEAKER_02 11:50

So yeah, it's just unique, right? Like just something different.

SPEAKER_01 11:53

Yeah, it is fun. And then it's Marathon Matters, obviously. I don't know if we mentioned that. I don't think we're like a Regina running club that was founded in 2010 by some awesome people, and they kind of like started the whole Canada Goose and that um they they Marathon Matters has I think three of these.

SPEAKER_03 12:11

Three total runs, yeah. Yeah, they do the gopher attack marathon and half marathon, and I think five and ten K.

SPEAKER_01 12:17

I guess you should be saying we since you guys are We, yeah, I guess it feels weird to speak for Marathon Matters.

SPEAKER_03 12:24

It does. Yeah. So yeah, they have the gopher, we do the goose, and Cure for the Burr is a six-hour timed event uh in the first week in January. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:34

And we should mention if we're hearing any uh noise in the background, everybody's favorite producer Baker is here being an absolute annoyance.

SPEAKER_02 12:42

He's super enthusiast. Very much so. He loves January.

SPEAKER_01 12:45

And actually, um, he'll more than likely make an appearance or two at Canada Goose if you're sitting on the fence about whether or not you want to participate.

SPEAKER_03 12:52

Yeah, if you're not signed up yet, I mean if we didn't get you with um pancakes, pancakes and birthday parties and pizza. Yeah, pizza, all the things. Producer Baker will be there.

SPEAKER_01 13:03

So he has been recognized at a few events in the past.

SPEAKER_03 13:06

So But yes, there people can still sign up. Just look for us on RaceRoster.

SPEAKER_02 13:13

Yeah, I still think we have about three weeks of sign up. I think you can sign up about one week before until June like 19th, 20th or so. But last couple days before getting, if you want to get your name on your bib and you want to sign up soon to make sure that you get a medal as well. And we didn't also mention that one thing is so runners get a medal, they get the sweet atmosphere. But also, if you run your longest distance that you've ever run before, you get a very special handmade ceramic mug, which is super beautiful and just like a nice way to celebrate people who are out there pushing themselves, whether it's their first 30k or 100k or whatever they're doing. First 10K. Exactly. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:51

And like all the Marathon Matters events, it's a very reasonably priced. Yeah. Like what is it? I I don't even know. It's like I know that you need about a it's like a you have to buy a Marathon Matters membership, which comes with some perks of its own. And it's I think it's like $12.52 with fees and taxes.

SPEAKER_02 14:08

So and you get then a $10 discount on the registration.

SPEAKER_01 14:11

So I kind of all like that.

unknown 14:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:14

But it's cool to be part of the Marathon Matters um community anyway, because it's nice when you complete an event, they they always like make a post about it and celebrate everybody in the community, which is really cool.

SPEAKER_01 14:25

Yeah, it is really cool.

SPEAKER_03 14:26

Wait, wait, wait. I just remembered something else. We have more stuff. You mentioned the mugs, but for the people who go 100 kilometers or more, you get a belt buckle. And we have had them redesigned this year. We haven't seen them yet, but they're gonna be beautiful.

SPEAKER_02 14:42

Yeah, so if you've collected one previously or earned one in the other years, brand new this year.

SPEAKER_03 14:47

So you definitely need to be there.

SPEAKER_01 14:50

Yeah, that sounds awesome. And then getting back to you two, what made you um step up and decide to be the race directors for the goose this year?

SPEAKER_03 14:59

Well, first of all, there was the need, as the previous race directors weren't going to be able to do it this year, and we didn't want to see the race disappear, of course. So it seemed and it seemed like a cool opportunity to step in and try our hands at being race directors in a way that has a lot less pressure because this is already a known and unique event that has a lot of support in the city. And it's backed by the Marathon Matters Club, which is a pretty cool way to do an event. And aside from that, I just knew Jackie and I are both planners who geek out on lists and that we have the same style of prepping so that we work well together and have a lot of fun doing it. And I also know that Jackie brings the same kind of energy to volunteering and cheering at events that we're not participating in as I do. And I wanted an excuse to get to hang out with that for 24 hours.

SPEAKER_02 15:42

I mean, I just did it because I wanted to be on the podcast to be like my for sure invitation. Um no. Um Melissa had brought it up that they were looking for something and we didn't want to let this really cool event die. And we're like, we work well together, I think we can do this. So we decided to step in and we just hope to do a really good job for everyone this year. Like most things in my running life lately. Melissa Burns talked me into doing it, and so here I am, but it's been a blast so far.

SPEAKER_01 16:09

So and it feels like it may have been one of those things where maybe like a lot of the same people were kind of taking on most of the responsibility for things, so it's nice to like step up and take on some of that.

SPEAKER_03 16:22

Yeah, so that the same people don't end up having to do all of the work all of the time.

SPEAKER_02 16:26

Yeah, just so and it's also like we've talked about it, and people have talked about volunteering. You've had like Wanda on the podcast before, but like I had to take a little bit of a step back from running last year, and I had so much fun volunteering at different events. So this is just like another cool, unique way to give back to such an awesome community.

SPEAKER_03 16:42

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 16:43

And we should mention is there if someone does just want to volunteer, is there still a few spots open?

unknown 16:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:48

They can also go on our race roster and look on the in the volunteer section and it'll show which um positions we still need some help at. We would never turn anybody down, even if you can't fill out, like, say, if it's an aid station spot from like let's say 10 to 2 or whatever. I'm making that up. But if you could come at 10 and you have to leave at one, that's fine. Just sign up and yeah, we'll be still happy. Yeah. But also don't forget your uh cowbells and cheering voices, because if you're volunteering, we're gonna need you to also cheer. That's half the fun.

SPEAKER_01 17:22

And are you hoping for a sunny or rainy day?

SPEAKER_03 17:26

I mean, as the people standing around, I feel like sunny or for the runners. Um like I think it would be great if it was cool and cloudy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:36

I think we're just hoping for no smoke. Yeah. We're like, please a little bit more rain in the near future. Yeah and then have a nice calm day.

SPEAKER_03 17:43

Yeah.

unknown 17:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:44

Last year's event was cancelled because of the dense smoke.

SPEAKER_03 17:48

Yeah, it was very high. Which um this past weekend in real life, the last weekend in May is when it was last year. Okay, so it canceled. So yeah, it would have been a perfect weekend for running it actually, because it was cool. Yeah. Smoke free.

SPEAKER_02 18:03

But but we will see. It's actually kind of cool that this weekend, like 10 years ago, was the same weekend. In June, 10 years ago. So that was kind of accidental, but worked out.

SPEAKER_03 18:14

Worked out wonderfully.

SPEAKER_01 18:15

All right. Is there anything else you think we need to chat about? Are we all good for kind of a ghost? We got the uh history, the marathon matters, we got the uh little description, the fun things, a little bit about you guys. Well, I was gonna say you're such a good community ambassador because when you had a little injury and then you just like volunteered and stuff, and then every time I have a little boo-boo on my foot or something, I'm like, you know what? I'm quitting everything. I'm just getting out of this running.

SPEAKER_03 18:43

Yeah, delete it. He has a better attitude than you. Let's be real. He's like, all right, let's sign off before we say more mean things to do. No, let's just be mean to him all night.

SPEAKER_01 18:56

Don't cyberbully me.

SPEAKER_03 18:58

You already have a cyberbully.

SPEAKER_01 19:00

I do, but but I haven't gotten any actual he I actually want like a bad review or like an email to be like, hey buddy, you're an idiot. You don't know what you're talking about. But it's all love so far.

SPEAKER_03 19:10

So it's no bad reviews so far.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

No, all five-star reviews.

SPEAKER_03 19:14

So far, your cyberbully is actually just your friend.

SPEAKER_01 19:16

So he just teases me because I say for sure all the time. He he counted once in one episode, I said for sure 43 times. But then the next time I was self-conscious about it, so instead of saying for sure, I would just not say anything.

SPEAKER_03 19:29

Yeah, not saying that sounds right.

SPEAKER_01 19:33

You know who you are. All right. Well, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:38

So we would love to have you come if you're gonna if you would like to volunteer. We still have spaces for that. If you want to run, we still have spaces for that. We just want to see you. Come on out and have fun.

SPEAKER_01 19:49

Yeah, and then check that out. The registrations on RaceRoster. I think there's the Marathon Matters website if you want to go that route. I'm assuming there's a link.

SPEAKER_02 20:00

We have a Facebook page, Canada Goose Ultra, a new one, and then a new Instagram page, Canada Goose Ultra as well.

SPEAKER_03 20:08

Which I need to pump Jackie's tires on that one because she handles all of our social media and she is so good learning. Learning, learning, but you're so good at it.

SPEAKER_01 20:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:18

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 20:18

And you'd probably want to thank we probably don't want to mention names because then you that's how you forget someone, but lots of the uh present marathon matters members who have experience race directing and running races have been super helpful with you guys.

SPEAKER_02 20:31

Oh, yeah, very much so. There's a group of people that have been instrumental and helping like guide us along the way. And again, the community's just so lovely. And it was really just a group of friends who put this race together a decade ago in the beginning. And so it's cool that they're still involved and like helping us along the way to make it better.

SPEAKER_01 20:50

Yeah, for sure. And then how many registrants are you at as of now? Like around 90, is it?

SPEAKER_04 20:56

Somewhere around. Yeah, somewhere.

SPEAKER_01 20:59

Maybe you can get up to 100. Let's go, people, let's do it.

SPEAKER_03 21:05

So you want to register just so you can see me um do the actions I just did in person. Let's do it. It's worth it. It'll be so fun.

SPEAKER_01 21:16

All right.

SPEAKER_03 21:16

Okay, bye.

SPEAKER_01 21:17

All right. Thanks for coming tonight, Jackie. Thank you, Melissa. And hope to see you all at the Canada Goose, and so does producer Baker. He's looking forward to getting pets from everyone there.

SPEAKER_02 21:26

Bye!

SPEAKER_01 21:34

You have been listening to the Saskatchewan podcast. Please subscribe and leave a review wherever you listen to pods, and remember to get in touch at jason tburns40 at gmail.com for suggestions of who you think may make a great guess on this podcast, or for comments in general. And as always, thanks to this wonderful Canadian band, The Burning Hell, for the use of this song Holidaymakers. Check them out at theburninghell.com. And until next time, keep putting in the work.