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From the archive: Trudeau’s in the house and on the roads

Justin TrudeauFrom sprinting around Rideau Hall as a child to running up and down Montreal’s Mont Royal as a Liberal MP, Justin Trudeau has kept running as a constant in his life to free his mind.

This story first appeared in our July/August 2009 issue.

By Alison Jones

Justin Trudeau has a busy schedule. Elected as Liberal MP to the Papineau district of Montreal in 2008, he has the potential to continue a political dynasty. Trudeau also just had his second child, yet he still finds time to run. “You can leave beside all the puns about running for office,” says Trudeau, with a laugh. “It’s really free-flowing, with no mental effort. The rest of my time is so regimented that I can’t allow my mind to wander and be as free as when I run.”

Trudeau leads an active lifestyle, cross-country skiing in the winter, going on canoe trips in the summer and running year-round. “Running is a good way to keep active and an important barometer,” he says. “To run 45 minutes and not collapse is a good measure of my fitness.”

One of Trudeau’s earliest memories is of evenings as a young child spent running around Rideau Hall with his father, and he’s been running ever since. Trudeau recalls running the Vancouver Sun Run 10k with his colleagues when he taught at Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School. It was just for fun, but at the time he had never run for as long as 45 minutes and found the experience exhausting, yet exhilarating. Trudeau hasn’t raced since, but has a standing request with his staff to sign him up for a race when his schedule allows some time between rushing from Montreal to Ottawa. “I am trying to get a lot more regularity into my workout regimes,” he says, “but my schedule conspires against me far too often.”

Trudeau’s favourite place to run is up and down Mont Royal in Montreal, where he has a 7–8k loop that takes him up long stairs and steep slopes. He runs alone, without music, relishing the time to himself. “I love the mountain, I love running through the forest with the city in the background.” Since moving to Ottawa as an MP, Trudeau has yet to explore the capital city as a runner, but looks forward to a classic run along the Rideau Canal.

After his political career is over,Trudeau says he hopes to run a marathon, feeling no pressure to complete the distance while he’s young. Many people become better runners with age, Trudeau says, and it’s never too late to push the body to its perceived limits.

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