Meet the Otto’s Ottawa Power Crew!
Otto’s Ottawa Power Crew is a dedicated group of runners and walkers who enjoy sharing helpful training experiences, excitement about their upcoming Run Ottawa events, and details of their running practice—fundraising tips, yummy food pics, cool routes, and more!
Check out our fall 2022 members below!
Mireille Durand, Ottawa, ON
Mireille has been running for 9 years, and completed her first marathon in 2019. She loves setting goals for herself and working hard to achieve them.
She credits running for helping her remain positive and recover faster after an unexpected cancer diagnosis in late 2019, and through local run clubs she has found loving and supportive communities for runners of all abilities.
Mireille is currently training for the 2022 Chicago Marathon after which she will be participating in the Desjardins Great Big Cookie Run. She is excited to be a part of the Fall 2022 edition of Otto’s Ottawa Power Crew and to share her running journey in the hopes of inspiring others who, like her, never thought they could become runners.
Follow Mireille along her training journey over on her Instagram account.
Kristel Gauthier, Ottawa, ON
Kristel ran her first 10k race in 2011 and never looked back. She will be running her 5th marathon this October, and her goal is to qualify for the 2024 Boston Marathon.
The many friends Kristel has made as a member of Run Ottawa, K2J Fitness, Arboretum Hill Club and Mill Street Milers are her best cheer squad. For her, one of the greatest joys of running is belonging to a community.
She is a dedicated advocate for mental health and continues to share how running has played such a vital role in her road to recovery.
You can learn more about Kristel by following her on Instagram.
Chris Huddleston, Ottawa, ON
Chris has been running most of his life, but his first two races were the Army Run in 2012 and Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend in 2013. Since then he has joined some of the local running groups like Mill Street Milers and Ottawa City Run Club. Chris enjoys being part of the Ottawa running community because it is such a fun and strong group of runners. For Chris, the involvement of the local running community is one of the best parts of events like Ottawa Race Weekend.
Follow Chris’s Instagram account to learn more about his running adventures far and wide.
Sheridan Hunt, Ottawa, ON
Sheridan grew up in Ottawa, she began running when she was in her early twenties and was challenged to run a half marathon at Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend. She completed it, however it was not love at first sight. She only began to appreciate the hard work and reward of running after having kids.
Sheridan is a mom of 3 boys and a baby girl. The question she often gets asked is “How do you find the time to run?” She doesn’t really know how she finds the time, but just like cooking dinner, it always gets done.
Sheridan enjoys attending different run clubs throughout the city as well as many Run Ottawa events. So much so that she was inspired to start the West Ottawa Run Club with the help of her partner and Mike from Kichesippi Brewery.
Sheridan wants to inspire others to get out and start running regardless of how active they have been in the past or how little free time they can dedicate to running.
You can learn more about finding the time to lace up by following Sheridan’s Instagram account.
Adelina McCall, Ottawa, ON
Addie has always been a runner. She participated in cross country running while growing up in Kitchener, but took a break from running to focus on varsity rugby when she moved to Ottawa to pursue her university education.
After sustaining an intense concussion, she left rugby and returned to running to complete her first half marathon in 2021 and her second half marathon this past May. Addie uses running as her main source of exercise, but she also loves to swim, hike, go to the gym, and practice yoga. Running, and physical activity in general, is what Addie uses to help her cope with both the good and the bad of day to day life. She is currently working towards her goal of running a marathon.
Visit Addie’s Instagram page to be inspired by her marathon training journey.
Déborah Parent, Ottawa, ON
Déborah started running 13 years ago, as part of her physical health journey. Today, she believes that running has done as much, if not more, for her mental health as well.
Running brings Déborah joy, and time to herself. She also believes it helps her to be the calm, fun and energetic mom, wife and friend she aspires to be.
Déborah is part of a military family and is a mom of three children, ages 2, 5 and 7. Since first becoming a mom their family has lived in four different homes in three different provinces (NB, QC, ON), plus the state of Missouri. Déborah feels that running has been there for her through every challenge. Even when she felt alone, running was there. Running has helped her make new friends when everything and everyone was new. It brought Déborah peace and courage when she lived far from her supportive siblings.
Follow Déborah on Instagram to join her on her running journey.
Kristin Paterson, Ottawa, ON
Kristin is a homeschooling mom of four with a passion for running, food and coffee! She enjoys cooking and baking healthy, plant based recipes and loves to share her creations with friends and family. She enjoys hiking, swimming and biking but her first love is running. It brings her a sense of calm, but also makes her feel strong and challenged, both physically and mentally.
Kristin believes the Ottawa running community is incredibly supportive and she is so happy that many of these runners have become her close friends.
Visit Kristin’s Instagram page for daily running motivation and delicious recipes.
Meredith Pind, Ottawa, ON
Meredith ran track in high school and likes running with her dog Murphy. After moving to Ottawa in 2015, and being overcome by emotions while watching Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend participants for two years, she became inspired to run her first Ottawa 10K in 2017.
She has since ran races of varying distances from 5Ks to half marathons. She has also joined several local run groups like Mill Street Milers, Arboretum Hill Club and Ottawa City Run Club.
Meredith really enjoys the sense of accomplishment she gets from achieving her goals, the feeling of crossing the finish line of an event she has trained hard for and that anything is possible if you put your mind to it.
Join Meredith and Murphy on their running adventures by following Meredith on Instagram.
Tamara Robinson, Ottawa, ON
Growing up Tamara never really considered herself athletic. She began running in her 40’s for her mental well being and has now been running for over a decade and has run many races including 5km, 10km and 21.1 km distances. Not only did running improve both her physical and mental well-being, She has met an amazing community of like minded people and feels so lucky to call many of them her friends.
Today, Tamara runs year-round outdoors and on weekends you will usually find her running the trails. She is also very passionate about encouraging others to get active, she is the co-leader of Sunrise Trails (trail running for all levels) and HappinessHabits613 Mindfulness Hikes.
Follow Tamara’s Instagram to be motivated to lace up, get outside and have fun on both the roads and the trails.
Tracy Shouldice, Ottawa, ON
A 2019 Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend Team Awesome Alumni, living in the village of Carp with his wife, son and dog, Tracy has been a Run Ottawa member since 2010, and has run in every Race Weekend since. Tracy runs to raise awareness and funding for worthwhile causes. Tracy is often found pairing his favourite carbs with coffee (the stronger the better) or beer (again, the stronger the better). He also plays drums and piano for fun. He looks forward to seeing everyone at upcoming Run Ottawa Events!
Visit Tracy’s Instagram page to follow his training journey.
Run with Otto’s Ottawa Power Crew at these upcoming Run Ottawa events:
Desjardins Run to Empower on October 1, 2022
The Desjardins Great Big Cookie Run on October 29, 2022