Pacing with purpose: Montreal’s Track Experience gains ground
Posted July 8, 2025 9:20 pm.
Last Updated July 9, 2025 10:44 am.
Every Tuesday evening throughout the summer, athletes of all levels gather at the Collège Notre-Dame track for The Track Experience, a 12-week series of structured workouts running through Aug. 26.
The sessions offer guided interval training from 5:30 to 7 p.m., rain or shine.
This week’s session featured Olympic gold medallist and Montreal sports icon Bruny Surin, who shared his expertise on sprinting, performance, and perseverance.
Surin, a four-time Olympian and 1996 Atlanta men’s 4x100m relay gold medallist, still co-holds Canada’s 100-metre record of 9.84 seconds. Since retiring, he has remained a prominent voice in sport and philanthropy, particularly focused on youth and education.
“It means a lot to me because once I retired, like a long time ago, like 22 years ago, I wanted to stay involved, like in the community, I wanted to stay involved in the sports and everything,” Surin said. He enjoys giving back by sharing technique tips and motivation but emphasizes safety.
He explained that many participants are primarily distance runners eager to learn about sprinting. “A lot of them are mostly like a distance runner and a lot of them… They want to learn a little bit about sprinting also. Of course, after the session today they’re not going to be sprinters because it’s two very different training,” Surin said.
Surin stressed the importance of avoiding injury, especially for newcomers to sprinting. “We’re going to go speed up to I would say maybe 70-75 per cent because if you’re not used to sprint, when you ask somebody to just go 100 per cent there’s a lot of risk of injury and I don’t want to injure any one of them,” he said. His focus remains on biomechanics and, above all, having fun.
Open track, open invitation
The Track Experience was created to provide a welcoming space where runners of all levels can train together, learn from expert coaches, and enjoy summer workouts.
Organizer and head coach Raul Bugueno said the program’s main goal is simple: to help participants get faster.
“Everybody’s here to improve, try to improve themselves to ultimately be faster. And you can be faster — do stuff, multiple things you can do. So you can work on technique. If you improve your technique, you’re going to be faster. If you improve your coordination, you’re going to be faster. If you run faster, then you’re going to be faster as well. So doing a shorter distance, but trying to do it faster. And regardless of your goal. So I think that’s what brings people here,” he said.
Bugueno also stressed accessibility as a core principle.
“My goal is not to say no to people, but to say yes to people. Like in the past, I have tried to join activities that were on the track, so similar to this. The only problem I saw is that it was only for, like, a certain level of athletes. And of course, you could have joined if you were lower level, but it wasn’t meant for you. So quickly, you would probably feel discouraged and wouldn’t go back because you feel, ‘Ah, that’s not for me.’ So that is not the goal here. The goal here is to make everybody welcome, but still challenge themselves and make them do things that they would normally not do and hopefully learn something.”
He’s noticed personal improvements through the program, noting that training once a week can spark broader lifestyle changes.
“This is already my fifth week, and I’ve seen improvement in my personal training. I take part in the sessions, and over these last five weeks, I’ve really improved. My watch even says it — it shows my fitness level trending up over the past five weeks. So I think, ‘OK, that’s good.’ Even though we only train one day a week, when you take it seriously, you’re not just training that day — you’re making other changes throughout the week that have an impact.”
Twelve weeks, one track, many voices
Raul Bugueno, the series organizer and head coach, leads the sessions and invites a rotating roster of guest coaches to share their expertise. Beyond organizing The Track Experience, Bugueno coaches at Crossfit Plateau and Sweatbox, leads the Mile End Miles run club, co-hosts a podcast, and serves as an ambassador for several fitness initiatives. He led the group on July 1 and is scheduled to lead again on July 22 and August 19.
“Every week there’s going to be running and running drills, but the intensity changes each session. And every week features a different coach. I’m here every week as the organizer. Some weeks, I’m the one coaching and directing the workout. Other weeks, like today, we have a guest coach who brings their own unique flavor to the training,” Bugueno explained.
Among the guest coaches, Joëlle White brings a Master’s in kinesiology and is known for her deep biomechanical insight and ability to coach runners of all levels. She leads the Racer Café run club and has coached sessions on June 10, with upcoming appearances on July 15 and August 5. White described her role as both coach and participant, emphasizing the program’s accessibility.
“What makes it unique is that it gives every runner the chance to be coached by high-level coaches and to try new things on the track. I don’t think everyone gets that opportunity. It doesn’t come around often. Sometimes people want to get involved but don’t know where to start or where to go. They might not want to join a run club. This experience is rare — sometimes it happens only once a year, or even less. But it brings new opportunities to the community to try something different from what they’re used to,” she said.
Alex Doré, a veteran kinesiologist with a background in sprinting and football, also lends his experience to the sessions. A former Université de Montréal Carabins player, Doré coaches elite athletes and media personalities, drawing on over 25 years in the field. He coached on June 17 and will return on August 12.
Christian Parenteau is a versatile and committed runner with impressive personal bests — a 2:32 marathon in the 2025 Las Vegas Marathon, 15:45 in the 5K, and a 2:00 800m from his university days. His competitive history includes the 2018 University Cross Country Nationals and the 2024 Canadian 10K Championships. Parenteau trains internationally while living a nomadic lifestyle and led the group on June 24.
Samuel Hébert, a kinesiologist and hybrid athlete specializing in Hyrox and obstacle course racing, recently took first place in the pro division at the Miami Hyrox race. His sessions focus on strength, speed, and full-body balance, with his next session scheduled for July 29.
Marathoners Doan Tran and Jean-René Caron, who boast personal bests of 2:32 and 2:20 respectively, emphasize pacing, progression, and smart recovery in their coaching. They will lead the final session on August 26.
A space to show up, not show off
While the coaches bring high-level credentials, the sessions are designed for everyone — from first-timers to long-time racers. It’s not a competition; it’s a shared commitment to showing up and putting in the work.
Participant Jean Nicolai explained why she decided to join the experience.
“I’ve been doing long-distance running for a little while. I do quite a few races, and I found that I could run for a long time, but I wasn’t really focusing on my form or technique. I really wanted to increase my speed, but I didn’t know how to do that. Someone suggested this track experience, and I thought, ‘Oh yeah, I’ll try it.’ It was totally new for me — but it’s really fun,” she said.
Nicolai now attends regularly and has seen a noticeable impact. “I come every week. I missed one because I’d just done a race the day before. But I really feel like the drills at the beginning teach you to slow down and really think about the muscles you’re using and how to engage them when you’re running. So now, when I run, I try to focus on that — not just moving my body forward, but lifting my legs properly, placing my feet well, holding my shoulders the right way. All those small things you have to think about. So yeah, I’m using what I learn all the time,” she said.
She also praised the variety of coaches and the welcoming environment. “We get a different coach every week. It’s really incredible. I mean, today our coach is an Olympic athlete. I feel so honoured to be able to learn from someone with that kind of experience. And it’s great for all levels — it’s really a space where everyone can feel comfortable. This is my first time doing track, and I’m certainly not among the fastest people here, but it doesn’t matter. Everyone can just come and learn. And there’s something new every week. So yeah, it’s really interesting,” she said.
Looking ahead, Nicolai added, “It’s been a great experience, and I’m really looking forward to the end of the session to see how much I’ve improved — and in each race, to see how much faster I can go.”
Bugueno summed up the spirit of the program: “Even if I just see you once in my life, I can have an impact — that’s my goal. If you come only once, I want it to be something you remember for a long time. And of course, if you come every week, you won’t just remember that one time — you’ll see real improvement in your running.”
More details, including coaching bios and weekly updates, can be found on the Track Experience blog.
