Last year, we met Saskatchewan-based Harvey Weber, a dedicated coach, mentor and advocate for runners from all walks of life. His focus in recent years has been building the running community and spreading the joy of running within the Indigenous and newcomer communities in Saskatoon and Saskatchewan. After he was featured in the Under Armour Diversity Series last November, Under Armour provided his club, the Running Wild Athletics Club (RWAC), with shirts and singlets for all the runners. We caught up with him to see how the club was doing, what’s new, and how he’s approaching bringing runners of every background and age to the track.
“In Running Wild, we have three different programs so we can reach as many people as possible,” he says. “We have the Future Greats, who are six- to 10-year-olds. They come once a week for an eight-week session that we run a few times a year. On average, there’s about 15 to 20 kids involved in that program each time.”
What’s great about the different programs is how circular they are: the Future Greats grow up and move into the next program, the developmental program, and even go on to become the young coaches that Weber uses to run the Future Greats programs.
Weber himself is still hard at work leading the developmental program as the head coach. The runners start at around 11 and go all the way up to age 76. “We’re divided into two groups: there’s a sprint group, and then there’s a middle distance group,” he explains. “Beyond that, we have a Performance Group, which is typically our university athletes. When they’re not competing for the university, they compete for us in the summer. We’ve also had some athletes who finish university but are still competing at a high level, and they train with us.”
The young coaches aren’t just gaining experience working with the Future Greats—they’re also able to further their running careers. “Our founder, Derek Rope, will hire these runners as assistants, for part-time jobs. A lot of these athletes come from different backgrounds and they often don’t have a lot of resources. Track meets themselves and getting to those track meets can be hugely expensive, so we’re able to help with that.”
“My biggest goal is that I want to give anybody the best opportunity they can have in whatever event they want,” he adds. “We have older athletes, who just want to get stronger and maybe do a local 10K. And then we have people who are trying to make the Olympic team.”
The club now includes para-athletes as well as a wide range of athletes from different backgrounds. “It’s important to us to have diversity across the board,” says Weber. “We’ve found that the huge range of backgrounds, from Indigenous people to new Canadians, para-athletes and a broad age span has made the club stronger. We only have around 70 members, but we have such diversity. The athletes all have so much to learn from each other, and we see such a diversity of experiences that come into play.”
In the past season, the athletes had one thing in common: a new uniform. “The orange Under Armour T-shirts and the singlets stand out so well,” says Weber. “In a race, we can see anybody who’s from Running Wild within seconds. So that’s great. They also give us an identity. We wanted orange, because of Orange Shirt Day [National Day for Truth and Reconciliation] to honour our athletes with an Indigenous background. It ties together with our club so well.”
“It’s amazing how a simple shirt can pull us together as a team,” he adds. “When you’re at a meet and you’re wearing the same shirt as someone else, you’re going to engage more. We’ve always had a great sense of team unity, but now it’s even deeper.”
Thank you to Harvey and his team for being part of the Under Armour Diversity Series. Harvey was nominated by his colleague, Kim, to participate in this season’s features. If you or someone you know would be a great fit to participate in the UA Diversity Series, please reach out to Canadian Running with contact info and a brief description of your nominee.
Under Armour has teamed up with Canadian Running to produce the Under Armour Diversity Series—an exclusive feature content series designed to highlight and promote individuals and organizations who have demonstrated a commitment to grow the sport of running, support those who are underrepresented and help others. The series features stories and podcasts highlighting these extraordinary Canadians who are making a difference in their communities and on the national running scene.
