RunVictoria is the definitive guide to running in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Whether a visitor, newcomer or long time resident, our goal is to help you decide: “where should I run today?”
Besides suggesting a plethora of amazing and little-known running routes, this site also offers other important information runners want to know: links to upcoming local races, links to local race results, links to local running clubs and running groups, links to local running stores, coaching services and more.
Our ‘CUSTOM SERVICES’ page provides additional resources for runners wanting more, such as custom route creation, personal running guide, run coaching, and care for running injuries.
Why did we do this?
Put simply: we love running! This passion has inspired us to share our knowledge and experience of Victoria with other runners. We want to help runners of all kinds discover new places, new routes and new avenues to enhance their joy of running.
We also have considerable experience exploring running routes outside, but within a day’s drive, of Victoria. From Sooke to Tofino, Quadra Island to the Gulf Islands, Strathcona Park to Olympic National Park, and everywhere in between…we’ve got it covered!
RunVictoria is a unique service. While there are other resources on the web that provide suggestions of running routes in Victoria, their offerings are limited and, in our opinion, lacking in knowledge of what incredible running experiences are available here. There was a void to be filled, and we believe RunVictoria goes a long way in filling this need.
Who is RunVictoria for?
Our objective is pretty simple: to be the preeminent guide to the very best running routes in Victoria. We are for all runners: local runners and runners visiting for a day or a month, weekend runners and daily runners, novice runners and elite runners, marathoners and those just wanting a short jog, ultramarathoners and track runners, runners with dogs and runners with jogging-strollers, road runners and trail runners, mountain runners and beach runners, runners who like beer and runners who like wine, runners who like mystery, and runners who just want to get inspired.
How is RunVictoria used?
RunVictoria is designed to be user friendly and easy to navigate. We have organized running routes into categories that most runners look for: road runs, trail runs, mixed runs, wilderness runs, waterfront runs, off-leash runs, hilly runs, runs with considerable elevation gain, loop runs, out-back runs, runs by region, runs by difficulty, runs by length.
RunVictoria is designed so many of the routes have options for adding or subtracting distance, or to explore other trails and roads in an area. Being runners ourselves, we understand that exploration and running are symbiotic. We’ve yet to meet a runner who doesn’t like to explore…even just a little! With this in mind, we may suggest a particular park or area to explore rather than recommending a prescribed route. However, routes are an integral feature of RunVictoria, and the typical length of our routes is between 8 and 25 km. Some routes consist of short loops of a park trail where we encourage you to run as many loops as you want. Others are out-back where you can decide the point at which you want to turn around. A few routes are point-to-point, which necessitate arranging transportation back to the start. In these cases we do our best to ensure that such routes merit the additional logistical challenge!
Team
Michael Lax
Michael was probably running before he was born. He ran his first race (100 yds) in 1966, and is still competing to this day. He has raced everything from track and cross country, to relays, road races and marathons. But his love of running is not about racing so much as exploring… the joy of discovering what lies around the next corner, over the next hill, down the next lane. His love of running eventually lead to coaching and degrees in Human Performance and chiropractic. He is married to Ann, and they have two grown children. Not surprisingly, they are all runners.
Louise Wilkin
While some may have been running before they were born, Louise was born to run. She started running seriously a few years ago, but in this short time she has been bitten by the running bug. She has conquered the 180-km ultra trail run around Mont Blanc (the famous ‘TMB’), won her division in challenging trail races, and been an inspiration to others (especially since she keeps getting better every year!) Louise is our web site wizard, and the go-to person for everything to do with maps and data. Without her expertise and passion, RunVictoria would not exist.
