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Running With Foxes

Finding an unlikely partner for marathon training in Yellowknife

I may not be "Dances with Wolves" but I am now "Runs with Foxes."

It's all in a day's work when you are in Yellowknife, NWT (spectacularnwt.com). I had decided to visit a good friend in Yellowknife last summer and take in some of the natural beauty of the north. The sights did not disappoint as they were magnificent, wild and often indescribable.

Every morning as I walked downtown for a cup of coffee, I would glimpse a red fox running across the parking lot or sun-bathing on a nearby bluff. After three weeks of bumping into this fellow, I felt we had become friends and that these greetings were magical.

However, it got even better. I was training for a marathon that fall and I kept up my workouts while I was in Yellowknife. One warm morning, I headed out for a hill-training day on the closest steep road. During my workout, I spotted Mr. Fox with what appeared to be his wife.

Every time I rounded the hill, I would see another member of the family, until by about the sixth time, there were 10 foxes playing on the road and running in and out of some bushes. On my last descent of the road, just as I was thinking how lucky to see such a sight, I saw something out of the corner of my eye.

When I looked down, I just about jumped out of my skin. There, next to me were the two adult foxes, keeping pace. We ran this way for about 200m and then they crossed just in front and disappeared into a neighboring field.

I did finish my first marathon that October in Kelowna but I missed running with my wiley friends. Every time I head out for a run on country roads, I keep my eyes peeled for a fox. You never know, maybe they take vacations too.