'This race makes a difference': Why Toronto's Sporting Life 10K gets ...

Sasha Gollish remembers sprinting next to her mother at 1991’s CIBC Run for the Cure, to support the Canadian Cancer Society, and telling her, “I’m winning that Honda CRV.”

She was 10 years old.

And though Gollish didn’t get the car, she did complete her first 5K in under 20 minutes.

Since that day, Gollish, now a Team Canada athlete and a researcher at the University of Toronto, has been running all over the city — including winning the bronze medal at the Pan American Games held here in 2015 — and holds the women’s 40-44 age group masters record for the indoor mile. (She also holds four post-secondary degrees, including a PhD in engineering from the UofT, and has an advanced coaching diploma.)

On Sunday, the Lawrence Park resident competes for the fourth time at the annual Sporting Life 10K race to benefit Campfire Circle, a camp that supports children and families affected by cancer. Having come in first all the other times she’s competed (in 2013, 2014 and 2022), for Gollish, the Sporting Life 10K is also about being grateful for her family’s health and happiness.

“I’m very aware of the fact that there are parents who won’t be able to say that and just how challenging that must be,” she told the Star.

(According to John McAlister, Campfire Circle’s director of marketing and communications, last year’s Sporting Life 10K was considered a “transition period” with 11,000 runners. This year, there will be more than 16,000 participants, close to the pre-pandemic 21,000 in 2019. Campfire Circle expects to raise over $1.7 million by Sunday, surpassing last year’s $1.45 million.)

How are you feeling about the race?

I’m excited for the event. Being part of the community is absolutely firing me up along with the thought of running down Yonge Street. You can basically move down it faster than you can any other time of the day given our traffic woes in Toronto, but five minutes before the race I’m going to get nervous because it’s just that’s how I’m wired. It’s the Type-A personality in me.

But thinking about all those Campfire Circle children and patients who don’t have the same opportunities that I have, it’s a privilege to be able to say, “Hey, I’m going to sign up for the race and run on a Sunday.”

What is your connection to Campfire Circle?

A bunch of my friends were counsellors at Campfire Circle. Watching them come back so full of energy while being inspired by those campers, it just became an important race. Even in the years I wasn’t racing it, I always supported the race, whether that was fundraising, encouraging other people to run, reminding people to pick up their bibs, or posting on social media.

What makes this race different … is it’s not about where you finish or crossing the line first or making a specific time. It’s more about thinking that this race makes a difference in all these kids’ lives.

You’ve said you have a Type-A personality. How has that shaped you as a runner?

I once broke up with a boy because he thought that I was trying to impress the world with what I was trying to do. I said to him, “Don’t you understand that there’s just this burning fire in my belly that challenges me internally to be the best version of myself?” Being Type-A is a strength most of the time, but like everything else in life, it can be a weakness. I get stubborn or I get tired, and I go down that spiral of thinking I’m not good enough or I put too much pressure on myself.

What impact did growing up in Toronto have on you as an athlete?

I feel fortunate to live in Toronto because I love how multicultural and safe it is. Jane Jacobs was famous in how she looked at urban development and called Toronto the ravine city. We’re lucky here that we’ve got this urban landscape, but we’ve also got this ravine city (with) parks and recreation, where everybody and anybody can go play. That shaped who I am as a runner because I’ve had such an opportunity to run in cool spots in Toronto. Everyone is close to great trails here, which makes Toronto unique.

How has the city been a good place to combine your passion for community and social issues with running?

Toronto Waterfront Marathon is the pinnacle of this. Between cheer stations, it’s lined with people from different communities. What’s cool about this rebirth of running is that we’re getting away from it being about competing. Everybody can get out on the road, and everybody can be competitive and define whatever success is for them. The unique thing about running is that you’re racing the clock. It’s an internal battle. If you don’t want to be competitive, you can just ignore the clock and just have fun with your friends.

You’ve been running with your mom since you were a kid. How has she motivated you?

My mother is an outstanding leader. She’s an outstanding educator. She’s the vice dean of the medical school at the University of Toronto. She’s a little powerhouse, but she has this heart that has little arms that offer to give you the greatest hug. She held us accountable as kids but did it through a lens of love.

What are your favourite trails and running spots in the city?

There are so many great spots. I love Queen’s Park downtown. It’s an 800-metre loop on fresh gravel. It’s a great little urban spot if you need to get out for a midday lunch run. The woodchip loop in Sunnybrook Park is pretty famous. I think of the horses all the time that used to run around there that we lost tragically in a fire years ago. Over in the West End we’ve got High Park, which is a wonderful spot for families to run, bike, and look at the swans. The waterfront trail is cool, and the Brickworks has a bunch of trails.

How do you balance running with working as a researcher?

I work at the Mental Health and Physical Activity Research Centre in the faculty of kinesiology. It’s because of my director, Dr. Catherine Sabiston, that I can do all of this. She’s an empathetic leader, she is a courageous woman, and she just gets people. She knows that she’s going to bring the best out in people when she lets them be the best version of themselves, which is to say, she lets me do me. I move my running around as I need to, so that I meet my work demands. But I also have the flexibility that if on a Monday at 10 a.m. I need to go smash a workout and there’s no meeting, I can go smash a workout. Running is also my think time to sort through whatever challenges our research projects might present, but I can do it all because I surround myself with incredible people.