Who are we?
A non-profit collective of Canadian athletics enthusiasts whose aim is to raise the profile of our sport and its athletes on the internet. Our membership is open, so if you have ideas, opinions, stories, skills, or other resources you think might be useful in this enterprise, ask us about joining, or maybe just pitching in where you can!
What is our mission?
To entertain, inform, and enliven our sport community, and to celebrate the accomplishments and struggles of athletes, the people whose passion and sacrifice make it all possible.
Why do we think this is important?
Because a sport, like the truth and other important things, dies in darkness.
In the 21st century, communities of enthusiasts– for anything and everything, from small engine repair to the music of the Theremin– must create recognized online meeting places, or else cease to exist. In the case of the Canadian athletics community, a failure to share our stories, celebrate the accomplishments of our athletes, and provide opportunities to openly discuss issues of common concern, free from commercial or institutional constraints, is fatal to the long-term health of the thing we all love.
If we fail to publicly recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of our athletes at every level, we diminish their motivation to continue, and we fail to inspire new generations of athletes.
If we fail to preserve the history and lore of our sport, we risk burying, or even erasing altogether, our collective memory, thus abdicating our responsibility as true fans.
And if we aren’t willing to hash-out issues of common concern, difficult though this process can sometimes be, we abandon the leadership of our sport to those with narrower, short term, commercial or institutional motivations.
No one will do this for us! There is simply no money in it. But luckily, most things worth having are fuelled by love and passion, not money. The federations and shoe companies might own our sport, but who says they must control it? Without those who do it, watch it, and love it, our sport would not exist. If this is you, RunningHotTakes.com is your new home!
Enjoy!