Show Notes
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Over the course of a career on the track that included a spot in the 5,000m final at the Paris Olympics in 2024, Thomas Fafard established a reputation as one of the smoothest runners in the sport. Yet, despite his world-class pedigree at distances like the 5000m and 10,000m on the track, fans of road running couldn’t help but wonder whether his smooth style would translate to longer distances and, eventually, the marathon.
Fortunately, after a breakout season on the track in 2024, Fafard wasted no time carrying his momentum up to the full 42.2-km distance. In December 2025 he made his marathon debut at The Marathon Project in Chandler, Ariz., with an eye on eclipsing Alain Bordeleau’s 41-year-old Quebec provincial record of 2:14:19.
At that event, Fafard threw caution to the wind, quickly abandoning the pre-race pacing plan he’d set out with coach Felix-Antoine Lapointe in favour of a much quicker tempo. The gamble paid off, and what began as a conservative effort to get his feet wet at the distance became a signature performance, with his 2:10:29 finishing time making him the fourth-fastest Canadian debutant of all time.
Now, Fafard is once again toeing the marathon starting line, this time against one of the fastest fields ever assembled at The Bank of America Chicago Marathon this Sunday, Oct. 11. With a strong debut to his name already, and the Quebec provincial record now firmly in his grasp, he joins The Shakeout Podcast this week, alongside coach Felix, to take us inside his build-up to his second marathon–one where he’ll once again be looking to go full-send against the best in the world.
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More from The Shakeout Podcast
When Andrew Davies toed the starting line at the 2026 TCS Toronto Waterfront marathon last Sunday, he did so with the hope that his first crack at 42.2km would be a positive enough experience to justify running another marathon in the year ahead. Over the course of the next 2 hours, 8 minutes, and 48 seconds, his quest for a respectable rookie performance became a run for the record books, laying down a time faster than any Canadian debut in history and vaulting himself into 4th place on the Canadian all-time list. Perhaps just as impressive as the time itself was the fashion in which Davies accomplished the feat, belying his novice-status at the marathon distance with a masterclass in pacing that saw him lay down a massive negative split to run away from the rest of the Canadian championship field. What's more, the performance comes at the end of a year that saw Davies lose several months to injury, graduate from law school, and begin full-time work articling. This week on The Shakeout Podcast Andrew joins the show to recap his record-setting debut and the training block that got him there, including details on how he and coach Steve Weiler incorporated a progression of workout long runs that built towards a signature effort on the streets of Toronto. Subscribe to The Shakeout Podcast 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 Shop The North Face Summit Series https://www.thenorthface.com/en-ca/collections/summit-series
The Shakeout Podcast Shakeout Run: Thursday, October 15 @ 6:00pm EST, 75 Harbord St. Toronto
To hear the marketing team at one of any number of different sport supplement companies tell it, your next personal best is just one sip, slurp, or shot away. Whether it’s the latest super-food concentrate, the greatest powdered potion, or maybe even a new topical gel, the market for performance supplementation is a crowded one, with each new product promising some combination of performance buzzwords like optimal recovery, reduced blood lactate, greater muscular endurance or delayed onset fatigue. But with so many options out there, is there really one “silver bullet” when it comes to maximizing performance, and where does good old fashioned hard work fit into the mix in the age of “performance stacking” supplements?
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