Adventure is the magnet that draws Cindy Harvey, 43, and Angela Haywood, 41, closer together. They met eight years ago hiking the Inca Trail in Peru and bonded over a love of the great outdoors. Cindy is an insurance manager in Wasaga Beach, Ont., and Angela is a personal trainer in Calgary. They get together three or four times a year and have an envious passport full of adventures. Already checked off the bucket list: a 36K ultra trail run in Cappadocia, Turkey, a 10K race around the world’s tallest building in Dubai and the inaugural Disneyland Paris 5K & half-marathon. They have hiked peaks in Vietnam (Sapa), Tanzania (Meru & Kilimanjaro) and to the Annapurna Base Camp at Everest in Nepal.
“Even though we live thousands of miles away from each other I would not want any other running buddy. Angela is the best and I love our adventures together,” says Cindy. “We have one rule when it comes to the races; we never leave the other behind. We promised to carry, drag or piggyback the other across the line to get that big pretty shiny medal.”
“Honestly,” says Angela, “Cindy is the only friend I have who is crazy enough to do all this! We may not be the fastest runners out there, but we love running, the energy at the races, and the opportunity to see each other.”
