Club Profile – Le Coureur Running Club, Sherbrooke

Club: Le Coureur

City: Sherbrooke, Quebec

Founded: 2006

Members: 160

Website: www.lecoureur.com

Boutique Le Coureur has been a Sherbrooke landmark for local runners for 30 years. Founded by Jean-Pierre L’Hamelin, it’s now owned and managed by Joël St-Pierre – and has been for 27 of those 30 years. St-Pierre says the approach in the running world is a bit different these days. “During the ’80s running craze,” he explains, “it was all about competition and bettering your time. Now it’s about lifestyle and enjoying the social aspect of the sport. The boutique is adjusting to this approach.”

Apart from offering the gamut of running shoes, clothes and accessories, the store manages three running clubs and puts on a series of trail races in the Eastern Townships. Mary-Lou Butterfield is the running club coordinator, while Nicolas Taillefer organizes the Xtrail Asics Series.

Butterfield, a 34-year-old running veteran, placed third in last year’s Montreal Oasis half-marathon, and has been operating Le Coureur Running Club for the past three years, along with the Ladies’ Monday Club (Le Lundi des Dames). The main club is free and meets three times a week – the only prerequisite is the ability to run for 20 minutes. Each week has two training sessions and a 45-minute Sunday morning run. The club boasts 160 members, and Butterfield says that participation has skyrocketed in the last three years.

The women’s club is based on a six-week clinic format with a $75 fee for customized training programs. Butterfield meets with each member individually to devise an appropriate program, and coaches both clubs with the aid of assistant coach Kenny Beaudette. “Running makes for good balance,” Butterfield says. “I enjoy seeing happy faces when the club members are proud of their accomplishments.”

Le Coureur also has a Trail Club and its runners participate regularly in the xTrail Asics series.

Martin Ladouceur and Jean- François Gagné run the club, while the trail enthusiast Nicolas Taillefer organizes the races.

The two Xtrail events, held at Mt. Sutton and Mt. Orford, began four years ago. More than 1,100 runners participated in the 2010 event at Mt. Orford, a race that Canadian Running voted as one of its top 10 trail races. Both events offer 21K, 10K and 5K events, with the Mt. Orford race also including a 1K race for kids. “Participants at all distances will encounter rocks, mud, gravel, roads, creeks, roots, moose and, at Orford, maybe even some snow,” says Taillefer. “The 21K is truly an epic journey through wilderness at its best.”

At Mt. Sutton, the 21K, 10K and 5K courses are single-track trails and go through several summits. At Mt. Orford, it starts with a cross-country trail and culminates with a tougher single-track section, bringing the runners to the summit at 860m. It’s so tough that Taillefer advises racers to double their regular road mileage in training and recommends walking the steep climbs.

More information on the Xtrail Asics Series can be found at www.xtrailasics.com.

Carolyne Van Der Meer is a regular contributor to Canadian Running Magazine.