The Shakeout Podcast

A few months ago, Madelyn Eybergen joined this show as Canada's university cross-country champion. Today, she's back as a world champion, but not in running. Instead, she conquered one of the fastest-growing sports in endurance: hybrid racing. If there were ever a competition to crown the world’s most well rounded endurance athlete, Eybergen would be able to make a strong case. She's no stranger to reinvention after trading the high jump for the track and quickly becoming one of Canada's brightest young distance running stars. Now, she's taken on a challenge even further removed, the fast growing world of hybrid racing. Late last month at the HYROX Global Championships in Stockholm she was crowned World Champion in the Professional 20-24 division, with a new national record setting time of 57:37 to boot. What makes the accomplishment even more impressive is the fact that it comes fresh off the heels of a personal-best setting track season, including a new 15:30 5000m PB set just one week prior to the HYROX global championships. This week, Madelyn joins The Shakeout Podcast to recap her historic world title and answer once and for all the question runners everywhere are starting to ask: Could Hyrox be the future of endurance training? Subscribe to The Shakeout Podcastfeed on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. [This collaboration is part of an advertising campaign led by the Podpass agency for Altitude Sports] Shop now at Altitude Sports and enjoy up to 20% off your first order with the promo code “SHAKEOUT2026” Click here to order 👉 https://bit.ly/altitude-shakeout2026 Create an account or sign in to access the discount. Valid on items at regular price only. Valid for a limited time only after sign up. Cannot be combined with any other discount code and/or promotion. Limited to one use per customer. Membership discount not applicable on this offer.

Nickademus de la Rosa is no stranger to mountaintops, of both the literal and metaphorical variety. For much of the 2010s he was at the top of the ultrarunning world, rattling off podium appearances at some of the longest, toughest and most iconic events in the sport, and boasting a list of completions almost as long as the races themselves. Of all the highs, perhaps none was greater than his finish at the 2013 Barkley Marathons, a race often deemed the toughest in the world, with only 26 finishes in its 30+ year history. Yet, while a victory on one of the sport’s greatest stages brought the promise of a legacy cemented, it also served to further deepen an identity rooted in performance, one perpetuated by a constant striving for the next win. While de la Rosa's immense talent for the trails allowed him to dictate his own story for years, his performance-centric identity collapsed when an abrupt diagnosis and open-heart surgery forced him to retire from competition in 2017. What followed were years of soul-searching and grappling to rediscover a sense of self outside of sport. That journey ultimately led him to mental performance coaching, using his education in sport and performance psychology and the hard-earned lessons from his own career to help athletes separate their self-worth from performance and free themselves to compete at their best. Today on The Shakeout Podcast, Nick shares from his own journey of mountaintops and valley bottoms, how’s he reshaped a relationship with the sport he loves that’s built for the long run, and how stepping away from the narrow constraints of the podium can help us all get the most out of the sport we love. Subscribe to The Shakeout Podcast feed on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. [This collaboration is part of an advertising campaign led by the Podpass agency for Altitude Sports] Shop now at Altitude Sports and enjoy up to 20% off your first order with the promo code “SHAKEOUT2026” Click here to order 👉 https://bit.ly/altitude-shakeout2026 Create an account or sign in to access the discount. Valid on items at regular price only. Valid for a limited time only after sign up. Cannot be combined with any other discount code and/or promotion. Limited to one use per customer. Membership discount not applicable on this offer.

Like finishing a marathon, successfully completing a Rubik's Cube is something that even those who have never done it understand that it's challenging, unique and worth celebrating. And the few who have done it enjoy a special type of camaraderie. To most minds, the similarities between the cube and the marathon stop there. But for this week’s guest, Canadian Running's cover athlete, George Scholey, there’s much more to the equation. At just 23, Scholey has already broken multiple Rubik's Cube world records, including for the most cubes solved in 24 hours. In recent years, he’s begun a new pursuit: marathon running. It wasn’t long before his two passions converged–in his hometown at the London Marathon, where he broke yet another record, solving 520 cubes over the course of the marathon (an average of more than 12 cubes per kilometre). On this week's episode, George joins us from his new home base in Canada, where he’s working on the business of cubing as a brand manager at Rubik’s global headquarters in Toronto. We talk about the parallels between cubing and training, how he fits the pieces of his full-time work and passion project together, and what the world’s most popular puzzle might have to offer runners of all ability levels. Subscribe to The Shakeout Podcast feed on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts Follow George on Social Media @George.Scholey Thanks to this week's sponsor, CanPrev Prime your preparation, power your performance, and prioritize your post-run recovery with CanPrev. Learn how natural health formulas can help you reach your running goals! Find CanPrev products at your friendly local health food store!

The last time Cam Levins took the streets of Vancouver for the Vancouver First Half, he left with a new Canadian record at the half-marathon distance. Weeks later, he kept the record-breaking streak going with a career-defining run of 2:05:36 at the 2023 Tokyo Marathon, taking a minute and a half off of his personal best and breaking his own Canadian record in the process. Fast forward three years, and Levins is returning to the playbook that served him so well in the past, as he’ll toe the line this weekend at the Vancouver First Half in a final tuneup effort before a much-anticipated return to the streets of Tokyo on March 1. Now, eight years into his marathon career and nearly 14 years since his first Olympic team in London, Cam joins the show to talk about how he continues to chase excellence in the sport. We talk about his famous high-mileage training, how he’s found his way back to healthy running after years battling injury, and what it all looks like while balancing life as a new father. Plus we talk about his return to the streets of Tokyo, a city that has been a common thread throughout his marathon career, and what it’ll take to once again capture lightning in a bottle there in less than a month’s time. Subscribe to The Shakeout Podcast feed on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts.

If there’s one word to describe the professional career of Lucia Stafford, it’s consistency. Since storming onto her first Olympic team in Tokyo at just 22, there has yet to be a global championship or major games where the Toronto native hasn’t been a part of Team Canada. For half a decade, she’s been a constant presence on national championship podiums, while also lowering Canadian records at both the 1K and 2K distances. Yet, for all the success that consistency has brought over the past five years, 2026 will be a season of change for Stafford. Earlier this month she announced her move to the U.K., where she has joined the likes of Olympic medallists Keely Hodgkinson and Georgia Hunter-Bell as a member of the Manchester-based M11 track Club. Today on The Shakeout Podcast, Lucia joins us from training camp in South Africa, sharing about her decision to strike out in a new direction and what she’s excited for in the new year, with a new team around her. Subscribe to The Shakeout Podcast feed on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. Follow Lucia on Instagram @luciastafford7 Subscribe to The Shakeout Podcast feed on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. Huge thank you to this week’s sponsor Smartwool. Join the Smartwool mailing list to receive updates and 15% off your first smartwool.com purchase on full price products only. See terms for details. https://bit.ly/481oMZY Conditions apply: Valid on regular-priced items. Can., 16+. Initial registration only. See terms for details.