“I just signed up like everyone else.” That’s how Samantha Jory describes the start of a running career. In just two years, Samantha has gone from a first-time marathoner to a 2:36:10 personal best, a national podium, and multiple local wins—all while working full-time as an organ donation specialist. We caught up with her to talk about progression, pressure, and the value of patience.

 

From the Pool to the Pitch to the Pavement

Before running took over, Samantha’s athletic background included years as a competitive swimmer and a high school and university rugby player. “I was a competitive swimmer until the age of about 15 or 16,” she says. “But I didn’t really like it that much to be honest… I didn’t like being in the pool that much.”

In high school, she shifted her focus to rugby. Her coach had experience with Canada’s national team, and the structure and intensity of the sport drew her in. She played for the University of Alberta Pandas, winning a national title in her first year.

Samantha later moved to Vancouver to complete her master’s degree at UBC. “I started running during the pandemic,” she says. “I was living in this beautiful city and I wasn’t really sure what to do, but I needed to expend my energy in some way.” With gyms shut down, she bought a secondhand pair of Saucony shoes from a consignment store and began running around the UBC campus. The beauty of Vancouver—and the calm that running offered—stuck. “It was spring in Vancouver… I just started building up some volume.”

Her first-ever race was the 2022 BMO Vancouver Marathon where she ran an impressive 2:50:22 and finished sixth. “After I ran that race, I thought, 'Oh my, I’m never doing this again. Marathons are crazy. I can't believe people do this sometimes two or three times a year.'”

She thought that was her ceiling at the time—but after talking to more experienced runners, she realized she might just be getting started. “Maybe that’s a misconception a lot of runners have—they do one race and think, 'That’s it, I’ll never beat that.' But you can continue to progress. You just have to keep up the consistency, and a lot of other things, but consistency really matters.”

Just eight weeks later, she entered the Vancouver Half Marathon—and won.

“I wasn’t an elite runner. I just signed up like everyone else. I didn't realize that I was the first,” she says. “I thought I had broken the tape for my age group because I was so new to running and racing.”

That performance caught attention quickly—and brought some internal pressure with it. “I felt a lot of impostor syndrome… I really kind of doubled and tripled down because I wanted to actually prove myself to be more worthy of that attention.” Fortunately, it didn’t deter her from the sport. “I wouldn’t say that helped me in terms of a positive healthy mindset. But I appreciated learning about running more and meeting lots of nice people through that event.”

Now, she hopes to help other women move past the same feeling. “If I could support other female runners breaking through impostor syndrome, I would love to—because ultimately that was a lot of internal pressure that I was putting on myself that wasn't really necessary.”

Over time, that pressure began to ease. “I've met so many amazing accomplished women, and everyone is so kind and supportive of one another—and that's really helped me shed those beliefs. Everyone is kind of struggling with workload, or a nagging injury, or something else. No one is completely perfect.”

 

Balancing Miles and Work

Outside of running, Samantha works as an organ donation specialist with BC Transplant. “There are many different elements and steps within my role, but it’s very much a privilege and I really like my work a lot,” she says. “The families that I meet and interact with give me a lot of inspiration and purpose and strength. But certainly, it is difficult to balance running.”

She runs mostly in the morning—sometimes as early as 5 a.m.—and occasionally doubles in the evening. “It’s like a puzzle you’re always trying to solve,” she says. “I’ve been on a run before and had to stop and take a call. I usually run near my home so I can get back quickly.”

“Just like everyone else, I'm trying to get enough sleep—it's a puzzle that you're always trying to solve,” she says.

Samantha credits a supportive team for helping her maintain that balance. “I think they all understand that running is important to me. So sometimes we just have open communication. I bring my work phone with me. I’ve been on a run before and had a call and had to stop and pull over,” she says. “Sometimes I’m asking my colleagues if it’s okay if I step out for an hour, which is not really stepping out. That’s actually a long time. But I’m also cognizant of the workload that I have. So sometimes it’s like, okay, maybe I’m going to be running at 7:30 p.m. tonight because that’s the most suitable time. Or I’m waking up at 5 a.m. tomorrow because that’s how I’m going to squeeze it in.”

 

Training with Intention 

When asked what her typical training looks like, Samantha explains that it depends on the weekly plan she builds with coach Natasha Wodak. “I do double quite a bit. Not necessarily on weekends—my weekend runs are usually longer single runs—but it’s not uncommon for me to do 60 to 70 minutes in the morning and then 30-ish minutes in the evening.”

“Typically it’s the hour in the morning and a half hour in the evening on Mondays, and sometimes Tuesdays I might double. Wednesdays I’ll usually have a longer workout and maybe a short run in the evening. Thursdays it’s usually one 70 to 80 minute run. Fridays might be 10 to 12K. Saturdays are a longer workout, and Sundays maybe 70 to 80 minutes.”

She typically logs 115–130 kilometers per week.

Natasha prefers time-based training. “Before I had a coach—Natasha is the only running coach I’ve had—I was just kind of making things up on the fly and was always distance-based.” While she respects the rationale, she admits, “I tend to convert the time into kilometers. I can get really anchored to distance.”

Currently, Samantha is coming off a sacral stress fracture. “I feel like it kind of came out of nowhere,” she says. “But fortunately it was caught very quickly. I advocated for myself to have an MRI and had one within a week.”

The time off has given her perspective. “I think having a break from running is really healthy and I’ve never really taken forced rest before. So I’m just letting my bones heal themselves and I’m just appreciating what I can do right now—which is cycling, cross-training, walking.”

She’s also rediscovered the value of strength training. “After rugby, I was in my gym era and didn’t want to step in one for a while. But I learned that lifting actually translates to being faster, stronger, and more resilient.” She now lifts twice a week, schedule permitting. “In terms of health and longevity, strength training is really, really important.”

 

The Pain Cave and the Power of a Smile

Mental strategies play a huge role in Samantha’s training and racing. “I definitely hit the pain cave for sure,” she says. “Courtney Dauwalter talks about seeing it as a privilege to be in that place. I sometimes adopt that mindset—it’s amazing that our bodies can do this really hard thing.”

In hard races, she focuses on competitors, and controllables, like effort, and breath. “Most of the time, I’m trying to think of my own internal balance. Can I work a little bit harder? Am I okay right now?”

She adds that smiling helps shift her mindset mid-race. “Sometimes smiling during a race can really just change your mental outlook and your attitude… That positive shift can really bring your body along with you.”

When things go sideways, she resets. “I ran Chicago in 2024 and was really anchored to a time. Once I started feeling bad, I panicked instead of just appreciating the ability to run a marathon. That felt a little catastrophic at the time, but I learned a lot.”

 

Fuelling for the Long Run

In recent seasons, Samantha has taken a more intentional approach to nutrition, strength, and recovery. “The Blonyx products I really like for recovery are HMB+ Creatine and Beta Alanine. I’ve been using them for a couple of months and I definitely noticed improvements—not just in how quickly I recover, but also in strength and how powerful I feel heading into my next run,” she says.

“With Beta Alanine I felt like Superwoman,” she laughs. “My cardio was always really good, but my legs would get tired from the compounding distance. With taking Beta Alanine, I felt like they had more spring and I was recovering faster.”

More recently, she’s tried Beet It Sport Nitrate 400 shots and Beet It Sport Top Up 100 energy gels. “I felt really powerful after using them,” she says. “To be honest, the flavor wasn’t my favorite—but only because I grew up hating beets. It’s not Blonyx’s fault—it’s my mom’s.”

She’s still coming around to the taste, but not the effect. “The vasodilation effect can’t be overstated. It’s super important, and you feel it—especially deep into a workout. I’d definitely recommend it to athletes who feel like they need that extra push.”

“I try and take a gel every 10km, or every 30 minutes in a race,” Samantha says, adding that her advice is to “think about what’s in your control, what’s not, and how you can manage those variables to create the best possible conditions for your body.”

 

What’s Next

Samantha’s goals are shifting slightly as she works her way back from injury. “I’m trying to be more process oriented than outcome oriented,” she says. “One workout at a time, one building block at a time.”

“Progress hasn’t been linear,” she says. “But I really hope that I can continue to progress as I age. We’re learning a lot more about female athletes progressing into their late 30s and 40s. So maybe that could be me too.”

Her goal is to run a sub-2:30 marathon—and she’s eyeing a return to Toronto Waterfront, the race that marked her breakthrough. “If I race a marathon this fall, I’m going to try and break down every workout to get me to the healthiest I can be—not necessarily to the best time I can achieve. That’ll unfold in the race naturally if I allow myself to relax a little bit.”

Follow Samantha on Instagram @swjory to stay updated on her racing.

That’s all for this week! If you enjoyed reading Jordan's story, head over to the Blonyx Blog for more stories of athletic ambition.

– Train hard!

 

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