Guest Speakers
Keynote - Julie Drury
Julie Drury has been an avid distance runner for the past 9 years. Her passion for running has led her to complete multiple half marathon and full marathon events. As a life long team sport athlete, Julie never imagined she would develop a passion for running - running was about chasing a ball, getting down a court, or running for a frisbee. She took up running to cope with her life as a medical-mom to her daughter Kate, who lived with a rare form of mitochondrial disease, SIFD.
Julie’s first running goal was to complete the Boston marathon. An achievement she realized after qualifying in her first ever marathon. Since then, she has set the goal of completing the six Marathon Majors.
As a board director and team captain for MitoCanada Foundation, Julie is very active in charity fundraising for the foundation through running events - in particular Team MitoCanada’s legacy participation at Ottawa Race Weekend which has resulted in Julie and Team MitoCanada raising over $100,000 for mitochondrial disease research and support to date.
In 2016, Julie was introduced to trail running through Natural Fitness Labs, a local Ottawa-Gatineau running club that offer group training in the Gatineau Park. She was a 3rd place podium finisher at her inaugural race, the 3 hour BlackFly at Camp Fortune, and in 2017 she ran her first ultra at PowderFace in Kananaskis, Alberta.
Running is friendship. Running is time alone. Running is commitment, passion, and learning about yourself.
iRun to stay strong.
Julie’s first running goal was to complete the Boston marathon. An achievement she realized after qualifying in her first ever marathon. Since then, she has set the goal of completing the six Marathon Majors.
As a board director and team captain for MitoCanada Foundation, Julie is very active in charity fundraising for the foundation through running events - in particular Team MitoCanada’s legacy participation at Ottawa Race Weekend which has resulted in Julie and Team MitoCanada raising over $100,000 for mitochondrial disease research and support to date.
In 2016, Julie was introduced to trail running through Natural Fitness Labs, a local Ottawa-Gatineau running club that offer group training in the Gatineau Park. She was a 3rd place podium finisher at her inaugural race, the 3 hour BlackFly at Camp Fortune, and in 2017 she ran her first ultra at PowderFace in Kananaskis, Alberta.
Running is friendship. Running is time alone. Running is commitment, passion, and learning about yourself.
iRun to stay strong.
Gesine Freud
Gesine (gə-SEE-nə) is an avid ultra runner, she enjoys both road and trail running. She recently qualified for Boston, and passionately runs for charities - particularly to raise awareness and funds for childhood cancer research. In June 2018, Gesine completed her second 200K non-stop charity run from Montreal to Ottawa.
Always dreaming about beautiful trails and new adventures, she trains under the motto of «What seems impossible today, will one day be your warm-up.» - Stay tuned on what she plans for 2019, follow her on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter: #GesineRuns