Jack (Armstrong) of all trades and master of run

TSN’s Toronto Raptors broadcaster Jack Armstrong is a man of routine.

When the Raptors are playing at home, he starts his day off with a morning coffee and a run along the Niagara River in his hometown of Lewiston, N.Y. Armstrong leaves the small U.S. border town for Toronto after lunch for a pre-game media briefing and prep work for the 7:30 p.m. start. 

On the road with the Raptors, Armstrong sticks to a similar routine, and uses his favourite running routes from his 25 years of travelling with the team. 

“In every city, I have my route,” says Armstrong. “Born and raised in NYC, I love to run along the Hudson River, looking out on the Statue of Liberty and around Battery Park. The Charles River in Boston is also iconic,” he says.

New York and Boston are two cities dear to his heart, since they are where he has completed five of his seven marathons. 

Armstrong has been a runner since his early days of coaching basketball, in his early 20s. “Something I always did as a coach was to run and work out with the team,” he says.  “I’d always make my guys do two to five kilometres before practice, simulating the late fourth quarter of a basketball game.”

He started running more when he became the head coach of the Niagara Purple Eagles in 1989, becoming the NCAA’s youngest Division I coach (at the time). “When I joined the team, I found out that the other coaches ran as well,” laughs Armstrong. “That’s when running became a ritual.”

Although he’s always been immersed in basketball, running has been his escape. “We live in such a busy world now, and running allows me to clear my head every day,” he says. “I usually come back from a run with great ideas.” 

Armstrong is known for his creativity, with iconic high-pitched catchphrases like, “Get that garbage outta here!” and “Bonjourrrrrr!” which are uttered when a Raptors player makes a big play.

“I just try to have fun with it and enjoy the process,” says Armstrong. “I used both terms once, and our broadcasting director tapped me on the shoulder during a commercial break and said it’s pure gold.”

Armstrong has worked closely with his play-by-play colleague and friend Matt Devlin for 15 years, but he says Devlin is more of a “gym guy,” and has not accompanied him on any runs.

“I believe there is such a thing as a runner’s high,” says Armstrong. “It keeps me healthy and gives me the energy to focus.”

Although Armstrong admits he’s never broken four hours for the marathon, his intense travel schedule has made it hard for him to squeeze in the workouts needed to prepare himself for a faster time. “From October to April, my schedule is dominated by basketball, but for me, running is therapeutic,” he says.

His last race was at the 2022 Niagara Half Marathon in Youngstown, N.Y., where he finished in two hours flat. “I don’t have anything on my schedule currently, but I am hoping to plan something for September,” he says.

You can catch Jack Armstrong on the Toronto Raptors broadcasts on TSN, or find him jogging along to his favourite classic rock playlists on the trails of Lewiston N.Y. or Del Ray Beach, Fla.