For decades, the Rideau Canal Skateway has been Ottawa’s go-to spot for winter skating, but this year the ice is attracting a different crowd — runners pounding the frozen surface.
The secret? A new designated walking lane that’s doubling as an unexpected training ground.
For Anthony Balatti, founder of The 25th Hour running club, the canal has become the perfect place to train. Balatti said he first tested the ice last year and was hooked. His club now hosts group canal runs on Sundays.
“After noticing that there was no issue of slipping or any real danger, I said, ‘this is the perfect spot,'” he explained.
Balatti said he’ll sometimes run the entire length of the skateway three times in a single session, a distance of about a half marathon.
“It’s softer on the joints, the impact is cushioned … because if you run on pavement, it’s pretty tough on the body. So this is very nice low impact, and it’s just a beautiful experience as well in the snow,” Balatti said.
A new winter route
For runners like Nick Rivers and Chris Latimer, the canal offers a welcome escape from the usual winter battle against snowbanks, icy sidewalks, and slushy streets.
“[The designated lane is] actually better plowed than the pathways after the big snow,” Rivers said. He added the new path is not slippery and keeps him away from dangerous traffic on the road.
After seeing other people running along the skateway, Latimer decided to give it a try.
“You don’t have to look down where you’re running, whereas when you’re on the actual bike path, it’s a little uneven,” he said.
Judy Reid, who takes daily walks on the ice, is glad skaters and pedestrians finally have their own spaces.
“There have always been walkers on the canal,” she said. “Now we’re not in the way of skaters.”
From service track to shared space
In past years, walkers would stick to the service track — a strip of ice meant for maintenance vehicles clearing and flooding the skateway. But as more pedestrians started using it, the National Capital Commission (NCC) saw an opportunity to make things official.
“Over time, people were starting to walk more and more and mixing in the service track. So last year, we thought of introducing this new idea of creating the official walking track,” said Bruce Devine, a senior manager with the NCC.
The marked walking lane runs from Waverley Street to the Bank Street bridge, giving pedestrians a designated space.
The NCC keeps the lane clear by scraping it. Unlike the skating surface, it isn’t flooded.
“We don’t water it at all. So given that it’s just some very thin layer of snow, the ice does form underneath, and it holds very well,” Devine said.
As for how much longer it’ll be open? Devine said the season isn’t over yet.
“If we look at the weather forecast, we think we’re still okay for several weeks,” he said. “We may have this dream of entering at least the first week of March — we’ll see.”
