They push-up, pull-up, lift and squat. They sprint and jump and sweat. And they get strong. Not quite as strong as Anikha, but strong. Greer began right where these girls are when she was just 12. Gymnastics wasn’t cutting it for her and when she stumbled into CrossFit 782, it was love at first lift.

“When I was in gymnastics, I liked being strong and fit and being able to beat the boys in an arm wrestle,” says Greer. “I liked being stronger than the guys and I kind of wanted to keep that.

According to Statistics Canada and ParticipACTION, less than one percent of children aged 12 to 17 were meeting Canada’s 24-hour activity guidelines during Covid-19, a precipitous drop from a modest 15 percent pre-Covid. But Greer is a young woman in overdrive, setting an example for young and old alike to get moving.

The 18 year-old from Bonshaw, P.E.I. was one of 40 elite women competing in the prestigious Wodapalooza fitness meet in Miami in January. Fatigued by illness, she wasn’t pleased with her overall 12th placing in the multi-discipline event, but she did win one of the individual workout sessions of her first major pro event. A CrossFit WOD, (workout of the day) comprises a circuit of designated functional exercise movements. In competition the routines are timed. Greer’s winning workout, the Celebrate 10, included five rounds of 15 handstand push-ups followed by five overhead squats with 125 lbs. on the bar, five ring muscle-ups – and 15 overhead squats at 85 lbs. She completed her circuit in 10 minutes 39 seconds.

“People were asking how are your arms and I was like, ‘fine… don’t feel a thing’. The adrenaline was so high you could have asked me to run a marathon after and I would have been OK.”

A former competitive show jumper, Greer is focused fully on CrossFit as a career. She trains six hours a day, five days a week, and takes self-directed philosophy courses online through the University of Prince Edward Island. Her training day begins at 8:30 with a long aerobic session, running, biking or rowing. Metabolic interval workouts include lots of lifting and strength work. After a huge carbs lunch, it’s more of the same for afternoon workouts. This young powerhouse is 5-foot-2, 141 lbs. and cleans 250 lbs., squats 325 lbs., and can deadlift 350 lbs.

She’s good with being a role model.

“One of my whys is to show young girls that being strong and muscular is not something they need to feel ashamed about,” says Greer. “If you love soccer, that’s great. If you love running then do it. Find what you enjoy doing physically and fall in love with improvement. It’s what keeps you motivated.”

Lead image by Patrick Clark

Read This Story in Our 2022 Inspiration Digital Edition

Read about Canada’s Top Fitness Trainers 2022. Need new ideas for your next workout. Test your fitness levels and see how you measure up. World-renowned breath expert, Richie Bostock shows us how to breathe correctly, 7 yoga poses for a better sleep, recipes and much more!

1. St. Lucia’s Stairway to Heaven

May/June 2017

(photo above)

With adventures on land and sea, St. Lucia has activities to challenge your heart and an atmosphere to soothe your soul, a place where you can get your sweat on and leave life’s knotted tensions behind. Go there with Chris Welner.

2. Jamaica, Ya Mon

September/October 2019

Put the Reggae Marathon in your datebook for December and revel in the glory of the world’s happiest marathon, where soulful beats accompany you throughout the race. Elaine Kupser soaks up the sunshine.

3. Backpacking Ecuador

September/October 2019

Many backpackers blow through Ecuador on the way to Machu Picchu, but those who take the time to visit this lesser-known South American country will discover — as did writer Sinead Mulhern — one of the most magical places in the world in Andes El Cajas National Park.

4. La France en Vacances

July/August 2019

France is the top tourist destination in the world with more than 90 million visitors per year and no wonder, with a cuisine to die for, unparalleled sightseeing and a unique culture. While you’re ‘en vacances,’ consider translating some of your time into cycling, hiking or running through this beautiful country.

5. Chilkoot Trail Altitude Adventure — B.C.

May/June 2019 

Hiking or biking, the Chilkoot Trail winds through 53 kilometres of wilderness from the coast of Alaska, across the U.S.-Canada border and into British Columbia. Experience lush costal rainforest, the rocky Chilkoot Pass, stunning alpine lakes and rugged tundra.

6. Discover Phuket — Thailand

September/October 2015

Test your fitness with a
three-day ride in Khao Lak past areas ravaged by the deadly Tsunami of 2004. Or tune up winter triathlon training in Phuket at the Thanyapura Health & Sports Resort.

7. Hiking the Black Forest — Germany

January/February 2019

In the 19th century, Philipp Bussemer began publishing hiking guides for the Black Forest Highlands in Germany. Travellers continue to trek those trails and witness beautiful mountain and valley panoramas.

8. Rising in Rishiskesh — India

January/February 2016 

Surrounded by the majestic Himalayas, with the life-giving Ganges River snaking through, the tranquil Indian town of Rishiskesh is known as the birthplace of Yoga. Writer Kadie Hummel took her Yoga teacher training here, a place she describes as something out of a storybook.

9. Argentina, Top to Tip

November/December 2016 

It was a grueling 5,856K tour of Argentina beginning at the Bolivian border and finishing in Ushuaia, the so-called “world’s end.” Adventurer Damian Jakibchuk took up the epic challenge of riding solo to the bottom of South America. 

10. Running in Northern California

January/February 2017

Northern California can be chilly in the fall, but not cold enough to stop naked folks from strutting their stuff in San Francisco’s Bay to Breakers 12K Run. It’s one of many active adventures at your beck and call, from fly fishing to hiking the majestic trails at Yosemite National Park. Elaine Kupser visits.

11. Honouring the Fallen in Italy

November/December 2016

The road up Monte Cassino is a twisting, calf-cramping series of switchbacks, but it is only eight kilometres long. After a screaming 25K downhill from our lunch spot by Lago Selva, this is our final reward. It is the last climb of our trip at the end of a week of cycling down the Adriatic Coast of Italy with Wounded Warriors Canada, writes Evan Baker.

12. Run Around Europe

September/October 2018

Are your running shoes looking to spend some time in Europe? IMPACT’s Michelle Tchea reveals seven spectacular European destinations, from Austria to Poland.

13. Cycle Touring the Pacific Coast

May/June 2018

Jump on for a 5,000K bike ride from Jasper, Alberta to Los Angeles with writer Sean Heakes as he discovers his inner soul. 

14. Vegas Beyond the Strip — U.S.

July/August 2017

Writer James Fell spent no time in casinos during his trip to Las Vegas. He did discover some of the great outdoors in and around the desert city.

15. Cycling the Oregon Trail — U.S.

May/June 2015

Follow in the horse tracks of 19th Century explorers Lewis and Clark as you ride the Oregon Trail in America’s most connected network of cycling trails. 

16. Spiritual Path to Mount Sinai — Egypt

July/August 2016

Most of the 7,497-foot climb up Mount Sinai is trekked under moonlight and flashlight to avoid daytime heat in the Egyptian desert. Watching an awe-inspiring sunrise from the summit of the mountain where Moses is said to have received the Ten Commandments is the reward for your efforts.

17. Run Ride Rio — Brazil

May/June 2016

From cycling Grand Tour races to Ironman triathlons, marathons and ultras and, oh yes, the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games, Rio de Janeiro is a South American paradise full of life, love and sporting adventures. The beaches are wicked too.

18. Wild Madagascar — Africa

March/April 2015

Through millions of years of erosion, the Tsingy de Bemaraha forest has taken on fantastical forms unlike anywhere else. It is one of the few remaining dry tropical forests of the world. Join this science exploration with endurance athlete Ian MacNairn.

19. Made in Taiwan

July/August 2015

Discover the many facets of Taiwan’s fitness culture, from active school children to bike touring and racing and the world’s biggest stair climber, the 84 storey Taipei 101 skyscraper. Taiwan has also firmly established itself as a leader in manufacturing fitness equipment used around the world.

20. Cuernevaca, Mexico

January/February 2001

Fitness travels are among the best ways to rid your body and mind of unwanted stress. Publisher Elaine Kupser got pampered in Hosteria Las Quintas Resort and Spa in one of IMPACT’s first destination travel features. 

21. Italy’s Bike Hotel

November/December 2015

The Belvedere Bike Hotel in Riccione, Italy, is just for cyclists. Do we need to say more?

22. Back Country in the USSR — Russia

January/February 2013

A sneak peek into Mother Russia before the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.

23. Cuba’s Cycling Revolution

July/August 2018

Cuba is not the first place you think about for a cycling holiday. Not as exotic as Italy or France, or even places closer to home here in North America. But Cuba is catching on as a cycling destination. Touring on two wheels will reveal Cuba, far away from the controlled environment of the tourist zones.

24. Climbing High in Squamish — B.C.

July/August 2015

Guarded by the granite monolith called Stawamus Chief, Squamish B.C. is Canada’s capital of outdoor adventure.

25. Hiking Like a Viking — Sweden

January/February 2015

The IcebugX covers 75K over three days of vast tracts of a stunning landscape known as the Bohuslan archipelago, a spectacular setting of islands, islets and rocky outcrops that make up southwestern Sweden.

26. Paradise Found in Kona, Hawaii — U.S.

September/October 2014

As the site of the Ironman World Championships triathlon, Kona could rightfully be described as the ultimate fitness destination. But whether you are an elite athlete or you just love to swim, run or ride, this quaint town on Hawaii’s Big Island will have you coming back for more year after year.

27. The Land That Does Not Melt — Baffin Island

November/December 2012

Two adventurers ski into Baffin Island’s Auyuittuq National Park for a dangerous ski tour at the Arctic Circle.

28. Drink in the Desert — Osoyoos, B.C.

May/June 2014

Test your guts and taste your glory in Osoyoos, beautiful wine country at the south end of the Okanagan Valley filled with rolling hills to ride and run.

29. Ultimate Fan on the Inca Trail — Peru

January/February 2018

IMPACT’s Ultimate Fan Jinell Mah Ming won an epic adventure from IMPACT to tour the Inca Trail in Peru with G Adventures. Journey with Jinell to the spectacular ruins of Machu Picchu.

30. Go There, Do That

Our last great travel pick is actually dozens of destinations across Ontario, Alberta and B.C. In our regular Go There, Do That feature, IMPACT opened the doors to places such as Kawartha Lakes, Collingwood, and Niagara Falls in Ontario. We visited Jasper, Edmonton, Canmore and Waterton in Alberta and among our visits in B.C. were the Sunshine Coast, Golden, Fernie, Penticton and Tofino.

Read This Story in Our 30th Anniversary Digital Edition
Celebrate 30 years of Canada’s best health and fitness publication!
Explore future trends in health, fitness and food in this special 30th anniversary edition. Find our favourite tech and kitchen must-haves, then work out before making one of our delicious plant-based recipes – all inside this issue!

IMPACT Magazine was the brainchild of a young fitness club manager and leading aerobics instructor of her day in Calgary looking for ways to unite, promote and market the fitness industry while educating the community to a healthier life. Thirty years later, Elaine Kupser hasn’t wavered from her mission.

As COVID-19 took hold of the world in 2020, small businesses everywhere were suffering. Gyms and health clubs shut down and trainers were tossed out of work. Race events were cancelled and after 29 years of uninterrupted publishing, IMPACT itself was in danger of closing down as its lifeblood of advertising revenue dried up.

So what did Ms. Kupser do? She reached out to help others, offering free advertising to any affected business and published an award-winning 138-page digital only edition of IMPACT. She gave trainers across Canada a platform and audience to showcase their online workouts on Instagram. She hosted virtual conferences for people in the fitness and race industries and brought businesses together. Those connections helped both industries on the road to recovery. 

“I kind of jumped into community service mode. I did a town hall for the fitness industry and brought key people together and we just talked. Then I hosted additional town halls for the race industry to see what we could do to support them,” says Elaine. “Out of the town halls a new advocacy group was formed for race directors (the Canadian Endurance Sports Alliance). That was a definitive feel good moment for me during COVID. It brought the industry together and they’re still connecting.” 

If you’ve been reading IMPACT for the past three decades, three years or three months, you have been following Elaine’s life story. The magazine is her personal journal. Her personal journey. A memoir made public for thousands of readers with a new episode every two months. 

Since IMPACT first appeared on newsstands in Calgary in 1991, Elaine has been the one constant force at play in the magazine, there to give it life and to sustain it through hell or high water. First, she was a fitness club manager. She wasn’t a publisher. She was a fitness instructor. She wasn’t a publisher. Then she was a single mom. She wasn’t a publisher. 

Actually, at 29, she was a publisher and all those other things, too. Being an independent publisher means sometimes you are the editor, the writer, or the copy-editor. You do page layout sometimes and art direct a photoshoot. You run contests, and host celebrations. You cry tears after another all-nighter to make a deadline so your printer doesn’t threaten you with divorce. You party when the last ad is placed and the magazine is finally put to bed. Then you take a breath and wait like an expectant mother for the glossy pages that smell of fresh ink to arrive on your doorstep. Some days you haul boxes of magazines in your car to distribution points. And you sell, you definitely sell, because advertising is the only way bills are paid and the boss does most of the selling. For 30 years, those sales have ensured that no reader has ever had to pay for a copy of IMPACT Magazine. 

“Everyone was so excited about the launch of IMPACT. It was new and there were no other magazines promoting health and fitness,” she says, remembering the early days of her magazine, after emptying the $5,000 from her bank account to take on a new career. “I was a fitness industry professional putting out a magazine. It took a couple of decades to get through the imposter syndrome of actually being a publisher. My people are the fitness and sports people and publishing has always been a venue for our industry to help others and tell great stories.”

“Readers buy what we’re selling because  it’s good for them. It’s relevant, current and credible.” 

The concept for IMPACT is simple. Provide a platform for the best experts in the fields of health, fitness and nutrition to share their knowledge. Inspire readers with the exploits of people such as Olympians who are at the top of the mountain and ordinary folks who do extraordinary things through sport and fitness. 

Elaine introduced herself to people who would form the magazine’s first advisory panel, experts who contributed much of the content in the early days. They included the likes of track and field star Diane Jones-Konihowski, fitness pros Helen Vanderburg, King Dunn, Neil Speirs and Charlene Prickett, broadcaster Grant Pollock, medical, nutrition and physiology experts Dale Birdsell, Dave Crossman, Frank Young, Tish Doyle-Baker, Craig Gattinger, Liz Longmore and Shona Lowe. Add on a single Mac Classic computer, floppy disks, black and white page proofs and a fax machine — it was all before the Internet — and IMPACT was in business, quickly gaining readers and credibility.  

Grant Pollock was instrumental in connecting Elaine with Alberta’s top sports stars who were the first featured cover athletes. Volume 1, Issue 1 had baby-faced hockey player Theoren Fleury on the cover in September 1991. Football quarterback Danny Barrett, figure skater Kurt Browning and Olympic champion skier Kerrin Lee Gartner were all featured in Year 1. 

“Grant was so generous and laid back and eager to help,” says Elaine. “I don’t think he realizes how important he was for the formation of the magazine.”

Grant says it was easy to see that running and fitness were important to Elaine, and “that authentic approach came through in every issue. I still get excited when I see a new copy of IMPACT.”

Elaine’s other baby was born in March 1992, her daughter Lindsay. Single mom, new business, new baby. 

“I spent a lot of time at the office over the years,” Lindsay recalls. “We couldn’t afford a nanny or full-time care, so I just tagged along to IMPACT most days. I’d set up shop in the boardroom with Barbies, a colouring book and snacks and books. Those days really developed my sense of imagination,” says Lindsay “Kay” Kupser, a singer-songwriter working on her Master’s degree in Paris, France. And watching her mother work developed the independent nature that guides her career today.

“I have an entrepreneurial spirit and a drive to make things happen for myself; to create my own thing where I am the boss of me, where I get to design my own career and my own life in the way that I want,” says Lindsay. “I get that from my mom, from watching her run this business on her own terms. Despite being incredibly busy, she never missed a guitar recital, singing performance or a figure skating practice. She was at every single thing I did when I was a kid.”

IMPACT’s evolution has been constant since it was formed. It grew and matured as technology evolved allowing for more sophisticated design and presentation. The internet opened up myriad new ways of conducting business and social media and its online presence is broadening the reach of the magazine to places it’s never been before. Editorial direction grew from fitness to health, to sport performance, to nutrition, providing a platform for advocacy on issues close to Elaine’s heart. In 2016, Elaine made IMPACT the country’s only health and fitness magazine to exclusively promote plant-based food and nutrition for sport performance and overall health. She believes this to be the future for the health of our bodies and our planet.

“We just present beautiful food that is very good for you,” she says. “It’s not about why you shouldn’t eat certain things, it’s about what you could eat a little more of in order to improve your health… let’s face it, everyone could use additional whole foods and plants in their diet.”

As a marketing tool, Calgary’s fitness industry pulled on their spandex and bought in completely almost from day one. The race event market was next. In 1993, IMPACT published its first RACE SOURCE GUIDE. Those were the days when runners would need to stop at their local running store to pick up an entry form for events such as the Calgary Marathon. The RACE SOURCE GUIDE was packed with advertisements and was essentially a one-stop shop to enter events. Readers would tear out the entry forms from IMPACT and mail them into the races. It has been published every spring since 1993 and instead of tear and mail, runners simply click a link to enter their favourite races all over North America. It remains the biggest and most popular issue every year. 

As the magazine grew and attracted the attention of major national brands, IMPACT began publishing its British Columbia edition in 2005. In 2012, IMPACT Ontario was christened in Toronto. One of the latest and most successful brand extensions is Canada’s Top Fitness Trainers, and Canada’s Top Fitness Instructors, an annual opportunity to champion people who are key in the health and fitness food chain. “I am fortunate to have a platform that can bring recognition to those in the fitness industry who have given their all to help others.” It’s all a serving of nutrient-dense goodness, helping people live their best lives.

Over 30 years, more than 12 million copies of 180 magazines have been read by an estimated 32 million readers. 

“Thirty years is a long time. When you’re that young you never think that far ahead. I was living for the moment,” says Elaine. “I’m very, very proud of what the magazine has become and what it has been throughout the years. I don’t think I fully appreciated it because I never knew if it was good enough, but I do now. I know that it’s always been good enough. From the beginning every detail, and every word on every page has been carefully crafted with the best of intentions.” 

A graduate of Mount Royal University, Elaine was raised in Kelowna, B.C. on an orchard run by her parents George and Lucy Sherstobitoff. Her older brothers, Walter and John were athletes, and Elaine had to work hard to keep up. When she wasn’t helping in the orchard, she was figure skating, in high school sports or taking music lessons. 

“My parents were very hard workers. I learned the value of working hard, saving money and being kind to others,” she says. “They started with nothing and provided for three children. My dad worked a full-time job as a construction foreman and ran an orchard. He worked from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day. My mom also ran the orchard and took care of our family and home.” 

Elaine puts in the time, too. She has been described as the hardest working publisher in the industry. But she will be the first to tell you that the reward is in the number of people she has had the opportunity to meet and the number of lives she hopes she has been able to change for the better.

IMPACT was the first Canadian magazine to put Olympians front and centre, raising their profile long before they had the support of national sport programs. Connecting with superstars such as swimmer Mark Tewksbury, figure skater ⇑ Kurt Browning, marathon champion Lanni Marchant, inspirational triathlete Jannelle Morrison and world wrestling legend Bret Hart was a thrilling part of the job. (You will have to read the three decades of magazine cover features to see the other hundreds of names on a list too long to record here.) Having the opportunity to run destination marathons, visit California’s trendiest fitness clubs, or discover a Mexican spa have been among the job’s perks. 

But the real joy has been connecting with people and making lifelong friends.

Sandra Bueckert was the first personal trainer in Calgary and one of IMPACT’s original advertising clients. Longtime fitness editor Pete Estabrooks, who still contributes to the magazine decades after he first came on board, is another of Elaine’s best friends. As editor of IMPACT for eight years, I count myself in that camp as well. Both Sandra and I were privileged to join a small group of friends and family at Elaine’s 2018 wedding to the marvellous Tom Lundteigen in Maui. The next generation is now taking its seat at the IMPACT table with people such as trainers Hannah Fletcher, Philip Ndugga and Scott Salling leading the way. 

“IMPACT brought me to the forefront and helped my business grow,” says Sandra. “Through thick and thin, she’s still standing. That girl is a fighter and a survivor. I have a huge depth of respect for that keep-going attitude even when things go to shit. You aren’t born with her kind of perseverance, you develop that. She has my respect.”  

Pete and Elaine knew each other as aerobics instructors since the late 1980s. “When I saw her magazine, I floated the idea of putting workouts in IMPACT. It’s been onward and upward since,” says Pete. “It’s an awesome achievement to keep your eye on the prize with something you live and you love for 30 years. And having the ability to share that with hundreds of thousands of people is amazing.”

She has the industry’s respect too as recipient of the 2013 Alberta Magazines Publisher of the Year, and she sits on the AMPA board. She’s also a 2021 inductee to the Calgary Marathon Hall of Fame. IMPACT recently won a Gold and Silver at the 2021 Canadian Online Publishing Awards.

“Magazine publishing is not for the faint of heart,” says Suzanne Trudel, AMPA executive director. “A successful publisher understands audience and commits to deliver on its promise. The IMPACT team has positioned the magazine to reach growing numbers of readers, through a variety of channels – all in an increasingly crowded marketplace.   The beautifully crafted magazine with clear writing and strong photography, continuously develops content that is laser focused on the needs of its audience – those who aspire to be fitter and healthier. It’s like a trusted coach: it motivates and inspires.”

“I met Elaine in 2011 and remember how warm she was and how much she wanted to help,” says Kirsten Fleming, executive director of Run Calgary. “She’s been a mentor and a friend. And the magazine has been a significant part of my own fitness journey. I hope it goes for 30 more years.”

Elaine realized long ago that being an independent publisher was not an avenue to monetary wealth. She’s made a good living, but publishing has been a personal passion project for half of her life. And with just a handful of staff, often operating out of the basement in her home, she created a magazine to rival the best of publications anywhere. Her readers tell her they approve every day, always anxious to see that the new issue of IMPACT has arrived.

No one knows Elaine’s passion for the magazine better than her daughter. 

“I was in Calgary for part of the pandemic and I watched my mom work her ass off to keep this magazine going, not only for herself but for her community, her employees, her readers. I saw how much sleep she didn’t get,” says Lindsay. “Thirty years of IMPACT is really, really, really amazing. I’m very proud that my mom has reached this incredible milestone. Of course one day I hope my mom will take a step back and enjoy the fruits of her labours, but I grew up with IMPACT and it’s hard to imagine a world in which the magazine doesn’t exist.”

In every magazine, the publisher gets the last word on what makes it into print: “I’m proud I’ve been able to persevere because it’s not an easy industry. It’s extremely difficult, in fact. You have to have a deep passion for the ‘why’ and I love the magazine so much that I’m not ready to retire quite yet. I feel that I have more work to do to help more people live their best lives. It’s part of my identity and I finally feel like I’m extremely good at publishing magazines! It’s taken 30 years to get here, and I certainly haven’t done it alone. It’s always been a team effort and I’ve been fortunate to have some of the best people in the industry by my side all along the way.

“Perhaps one day I will find a new generation of fitness professionals with an interest in or curiosity for publishing to take this on for decades to come. Wouldn’t that be incredible?” 

Read This Story in Our 30th Anniversary Digital Edition
Celebrate 30 years of Canada’s best health and fitness publication!
Explore future trends in health, fitness and food in this special 30th anniversary edition. Find our favourite tech and kitchen must-haves, then work out before making one of our delicious plant-based recipes – all inside this issue!

McCallum, 35, is an emerging bodybuilding competitor from Langley, B.C. And while many would break into a cold sweat at the prospect of stripping down for a fitness competition, that pressure pales compared to what McCallum has overcome to regain his life.

The R.E. Mountain Secondary School graduate suffered a near fatal skateboard accident when he was 18, falling back on his head while hitching a joyride behind a friend’s car. He fell into a coma that lasted six weeks and surgeons had to remove a piece of his brain to ease the pressure of a swelling cerebellum.

McCallum’s parents were told their son might not survive and that if by some miracle he did, he’d never walk, speak or eat on his own. When he did wake, McCallum couldn’t walk, talk or eat. He spent nine months between hospital and a rehab centre with a tracheal tube in his throat for the first five months and a feeding tube for the next 18 months.

But from his first rehab sessions 15 years ago to his current daily gym routine, McCallum has worked relentlessly to regain what he lost. Not a miracle really, just hard work. The brain injury impaired his balance, coordination and speech. He still suffers double vision, can’t feel temperature fluctuations on his left side and his gait is slightly off.

“I don’t know where I’d be without the gym,” he says. “I learned that I won’t give up – that I’m a fighter — just trying to be the best me. I’ve accepted what happened and just try to better myself every day.”

With guidance from physical therapists and kinesiologists, McCallum was finally able to pull himself up, then he regained movement in his legs. He had to relearn how to write and speak. His speech may be slow, but his brain isn’t and he gets frustrated when people speak louder or slower, thinking it will help him understand them better.

He is in the gym at least five times a week, improving his health and fitness, sculpting and shaping his body. His tightly cropped hairstyle reveals a roadmap of scars over his left ear and temple and at the back of his head. They are reminders of the striving steps he must take every day — like stepping on stage at the VanCity Showdown, a bodybuilding competition, last October in New Westminster.

“I wasn’t scared. I was excited and nervous,” he says about the Showdown where he placed eighth. “You have all these people looking at you and judging you – you’re supposed to smile, but I was so focused on what I had to do posing, I was too serious. But going on stage — that’s how you win.”

McCallum is grateful for his coach, Tamara Knight of T Zone Fitness, who has been training him for about four years. McCallum’s next competition will be in Surrey, B.C. in July.

“As a coach who has trained hundreds of athletes, Shawn was a dream come true. He never missed training or cardio. He practiced posing every single day,” says Knight. “Shawn has accepted what has happened and looks only at the positive.”

Posing, not poser. Lifting, not lagging. Smiling, not sour. That’s Shawn.

“I just enjoy working out so much that I want to keep going back in the gym – trying to prove everyone wrong. People think ‘he’s this or that’ – I don’t let anything stop me or get in my way.”

Lead image by Michele Mateus

As his vision deteriorated at the age of 18, cross-country skier Brian McKeever thought his days as an athlete were over. Boy, was he wrong. At 39, still going strong after five Paralympic and Olympic Games, it appears those days may never end. He has 17 Paralympic medals – a record 13 gold, 19 world championship titles – and a home in Canmore, AB, which he’s filled with race baubles.

With a seemingly infinite aerobic battery, McKeever is Canada’s most decorated athlete. He lives and competes with limited vision due to a hereditary degenerative eye disease that also afflicts his father. Brian was diagnosed with a variant of Stargardt Disease just as he embarked on his first international competition, the 1998 World Junior Nordic Championships in Switzerland.

“At 18, I’m not sure I really understood what was happening. I was bawling in my room thinking how my life was going to change. It was overwhelming. Just as I was ready for my first international competition, I thought my career as an athlete was done,” he says. “It was a knee-jerk reaction, but I got over it much quicker with Dad (Bill McKeever) as a role model.”

“Blindness was normal in our house. Dad was a blind phys-ed teacher so I never saw blindness as an obstacle, but adopted more of a self-deprecating humour about it all. On occasion, I do make a blind-guy mistake…”

McKeever has about 10 per cent normal vision, mostly in the periphery. He can read large fonts on his smartphone at very close range, but he describes his everyday vision as seeing “just the donut, not the hole.” For training and racing, he follows the forms of the guides who ski in front of him.

“There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t think, ‘it would be easier if …’ Of course I think about blindness, but I’ve never cursed it,” he says. “Blindness has made me who I am and, for the most part, I like who I am.”

[caption id="attachment_967" align="alignnone" width="1068"] Brian McKeever leads the Canadian team as the flag-bearer for the 2018 PyeongChang Paralympics opening ceremony.[/caption]McKeever is an athlete first and foremost with a life in perpetual motion and a routine of gliding on snowy tracks or training on roller skis, every day for three to five hours. Upper body strength is much more important today because of double-poling technique. Instead of time in the gym, he adds in long trail runs and enjoys adventures like bouldering and rock climbing.

An odds-on favourite virtually every time he toes a start line, one of McKeever’s most famous races came in the one-km sprint at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia. McKeever battled back to win gold after getting tangled up with another racer and falling early in the race. He’s also notable for a race he did not ski at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. McKeever hoped to become the first athlete to compete in the same Olympic and Paralympic Games after winning the Canadian team’s 50 km Olympic trials. But, much to McKeever’s disappointment, Canadian coach Inge Braten chose four other skiers for the Olympic marathon, denying McKeever the option to race.

At 37, in  PyeongChang, South Korea, McKeever won the 1.5 km sprint, 10 km and 20 km races to become Canada’s most decorated Winter Paralympian. He also won relay bronze with teammate Collin Cameron, a sit-skier. He has no plans to slow down and wants to compete in Beijing in 2022 and perhaps 2026 as an athlete or coach should the Winter Games be awarded to Calgary.

McKeever is so proficient at his sport, he skis ultra-marathon distances without a guide. At the 220 km Nordenskiolds Loppet in Sweden (2017), he placed 12th in a near 12 hours against an able-bodied field of professional skiers. Ninety-km and fifty-km races are a staple of his competition schedule.

“It’s not about chasing medals — even the best athletes lose much more than they win —it’s about the training, the process, and the ability to have your best performance on any given day.”

– Brian McKeever

“I’ve changed a lot over the years. It’s not about chasing medals  – even the best athletes lose much more than they win – it’s about the training, the process, and the ability to have your best performance on any given day,” he says. “I don’t see myself slowing down anytime soon. As long as I’m fit, fast and mentally ready, I will continue to compete.”

If he, or anyone else, ever doubted McKeever’s athletic prowess, any Paralympic asterisk was erased when he was recently recognized as Male Athlete of the Year for winter sport performance at the Canadian Sport Awards. He was selected over long track speed skater Ted-Jan Bloeman, short track speed skater Samuel Girard, and moguls skier Mikael Kingsbury, all Olympic gold medallists in  PyeongChang.

Brian’s brother Robin McKeever, who’s been head coach of the Canadian paranordic team since 2010, was his guide from 2001-2010.

“Brian was willing to work harder and train harder than any other athlete. He wants to keep improving almost to a fault. He takes it to a different level than any of us are capable of,” says Robin. “Even as he gets older, his aerobic capacity has remained the same or improved. Over the past eight years he’s developed more power.”

Brian is a big booster for another Calgary Olympics, declaring he is “a product of the ’88 Games,” when his big brother tested the Olympic race courses as a forerunner. Just as he was inspired to compete, he is hopeful he can help young athletes step up for another Canadian Games.

With respect to winning in 2026, Robin contemplates. “There’s competitive and then there’s winning. It depends on who else comes through the grapevine. Brian wouldn’t be competitive if another Brian comes along who was 15 years younger, but it is possible,” says Robin. “If his physical and mental health holds up, I believe it’s still possible and that he’s on the podium in 2026.”

As he strokes his greying goatee, McKeever describes himself as “an old-man athlete” and talks about helping young athletes grow in the Nordic ski world. He envisions the next stage in his career as a coach or technique consultant and following that, a time when racing isn’t his focus –  but not just yet.

Brian McKeever, 39

• Born: June 18, 1979, Calgary, AB
• Resides: Canmore, AB
• 5-foot-10, 150 pounds
• Para Nordic Skier
  13-time Olympic Champion
  19-time World Champion

MacMillan, 29, grew up in a rough-and-tumble environment in Parry Sound, ON, a community she says was tainted by “a lot of drugs – (I was) always running into idiots at the bar.” A playground accident at the age of 10 left her with a brain injury that impaired her ability to walk and speak. She was bullied and teased at school and on the playground while receiving little support from family at home. The million-dollar insurance settlement issued for her care was misused by her parents.

“People would make fun of me and it got to the point I couldn’t turn the other cheek. By grade 10 I had enough and snapped. I just started (literally) fighting back and never lost,” she says. “No one could match me in physical strength and speed. No one picked on me again.”

In her early 20s, she was diagnosed with stomach cancer. To help with her recovery from cancer, MacMillan began hitting the gym, lifting weights much heavier than her 120-pound, five-foot-three-inch frame and getting fitter and stronger. Her out-of-control lifestyle resurfaced often over the next decade.  “I’ve had more street fights than I could ever count – 50 plus. Got arrested once, too.” she says, describing an after-midnight encounter with a man who tried to punch her in the face during an argument in the street. “I reacted and slugged him in the face five times,” with a couple hundred people watching the spectacle.

In 2016, she left small-town living for Toronto and discovered her current tribe that has been nothing but supportive of her journey. She became a personal trainer and began studying the finer points of martial arts with the goal of making her ring debut in a fight that includes a referee. With amateur MMA fighting banned in Ontario, MacMillan has her first fight scheduled for September in Trinidad.

“I’m not going to live my life on ‘what-ifs.’ Even if you haven’t had a brain injury, there’s always a chance that something could happen,” she says. “I’m very confident that I won’t get hit – I’m too fast and too strong.”

“I can’t imagine a day in my life not doing what I love to do,” she says. “There is no obstacle I can’t overcome. Sometimes life knocks you down, but I’m not the kind of person who gives up.”

“There should be a warning label on flavoured water, sports and energy drinks that says, ‘We may seem like a healthy choice, but we’re loaded with sugar, too,’” says Joelle Wolstein, lead author of the study. “People seem unaware that these drinks have the same, or even higher amounts of added sweeteners as soda.”

Drinking beverages that contain added sweeteners is linked to becoming overweight or obese, increasing the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, liver disease, dental decay and other health problems.

More children drank sports and energy drinks than soda in all age groups, according to the study. Fifteen per cent of children ages 2 to 5 have one or more sports or energy drinks daily, nearly double the 8 per cent who drink one or more sodas. Rates for children 6 to 11 are 22 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively and for teens, 37 per cent and 34 per cent.

“We know marital status is associated with both psychological and physical health and one route from divorce to health risk is through health behaviours, like smoking and exercise,” says UA psychology doctoral student Kyle Bourassa, lead author of the study published in Annals of Behavioral Medicine. “We also know that health behaviours are often linked to psychological variables, like life satisfaction.”

Bourassa and colleagues David Sbarra and John Ruiz based their findings on data from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging, a long-term health study of adults older than 50 living in Britain.

The researchers analyzed data from 5,786 study participants collected since 2002, 926 of whom were divorced or separated and had not remarried and the rest of whom were married. They looked at participants’ self-reported life satisfaction, exercise frequency and smoking status, as well as measurements of participants’ lung function and levels of inflammation.

They also kept track of who passed away during the study period, finding that participants who were divorced or separated had a 46 per cent greater risk of dying during the study than their married counterparts.

Bourassa and his co-authors found that divorced or separated participants, especially women, reported lower life satisfaction than married participants. Lower life satisfaction, in turn, predicted lower levels of physical activity, which is linked to greater risk for early death.

Divorced participants also were more likely than married participants to smoke and, as a result, had poorer lung function, which predicted early mortality.

It’s important to note that divorce doesn’t always lead to negative health outcomes. Quality of life, for example, can significantly improve for individuals who have ended unhealthy relationships.

British and Swiss researchers have studied 40,000 food producers and their products and quantified a massive difference in the environmental impact of animal and plant agriculture.

Research published in the journal Science found high-impact beef producers create 105kg of CO2 equivalents and use 370m2 of land per 100 grams of protein. But low-impact production of beans, peas and other plant-based proteins create just 0.3kg of CO2 equivalents, including all processing, packaging and transport and use just 1m2 of land per 100 grams of protein. That’s 350 times the impact.

Aquaculture, assumed to have relatively low emissions, can emit more methane and create more greenhouse gases than cows. Even a low-impact litre of cow’s milk uses almost two times as much land and creates almost double the emissions of an average litre of soy milk.

Plant-based diets reduce food emissions by up to 73 per cent, depending where you live. Freshwater withdrawals also fall by a quarter. Perhaps most staggeringly, we would require about 3 billion hectares (76%) less farmland. “This would take pressure off the world’s tropical forests and release land back to nature” says lead author Joseph Poore of Oxford University.

“We need to find ways to slightly change the conditions so it’s better for producers and consumers to act in favour of the environment. Environmental labels and financial incentives would support more sustainable consumption, while creating a positive loop: Farmers would need to monitor their impacts, encouraging better decision making; and communicate their impacts to suppliers, encouraging better sourcing.”

Running has opened Char Hoyem’s eyes to a world of possibilities she once considered far out of sight. Weighing more than 300 pounds, Hoyem put her foot into a fitness program one step at a time, first walking then counting each stride of her walk-run efforts.

“I was 300 pounds, but then I started walking,” says the 43-year-old running store manager from Calgary. “Then I’d count every step I ran. First it was just 10 steps at a time and when I got to 100, I cried.”

Now an accomplished ultra-marathoner and run group leader who is literally half the woman she was, those 100 strides from a few short years ago pale in comparison to the 100-mile efforts she has raced in events such as the Lost Soul Ultra in Lethbridge, Alta., or her Calgary Marathon finish in 2015. She doesn’t finish ahead of too many competitors, but she never quits. “Speed is not my thing — though I’m lightning fast compared to where I started — but I can run far.”

“When I walked into the Running Room for that first half-marathon program, I was still 250 pounds. Now it’s kind of cool to be on the other side. If something feels so big or so far away, it’s not,” she says. “It’s not impossible. It’s just normal people. They can run ultras and marathons, too.”

Hoyem is filled with gratitude for what running and life has given her.

“I’ve raised my kids to believe we owe it people to contribute more than we ever take,” says Hoyem. “My running family welcomed me when it took me 58 minutes to run 6K. They told me that I belonged and helped me understand we all belong.”

Hoyem has a special race on tap this April, running the Boston Marathon as an ambassador for the National Braille Press, a literacy non-profit for blind people. Her intention was to race blindfolded with a guide runner, as a tribute to her 18 year-old blind son, Tait, but marathon rules will likely limit her to a 5K race before Boston’s main event.

Tait Hoyem takes online courses in computer programming through the University of British Columbia and Curtain University in Perth, Australia. He has limited vision, but few limits. He has also dabbled in trail running.

“Running changed my life. Yes, it changed my body, but it changed my heart and mind. The weight loss was a side effect,” says Char Hoyem. “I’m not the kind of runner who would ever qualify for Boston. I can do great big long runs, but I do that because I’m slow … slow can go pretty far sometimes.”