I met Nancy Stanley when I was running the 2022 Hardrock 100. She walked out of the Ouray aid station with me in the pouring rain, and I loved that not knowing me, she took that moment to say hello! Nancy I consider one of those old souls who — despite being younger than me — I look up to so much.

She runs long distances, has traveled the world, and works as an emergency medical technician — currently studying to be a paramedic — on the local ambulance here where she and I live in Silverton, Colorado. What more?! She’s an amazingly talented artist, putting herself out there and hustling her makings alongside work, school, and training. So, without further ado, here’s Nancy. Also check out her Instagram and Etsy shop if you’re in need of some fun, creative work in your life!

Nancy Stanley on a run. All photos courtesy of Nancy Stanley.

When/where/how did it all start — making art and running long distances?

I have been drawing since I was a kid, but started painting on longer runs during the COVID-19 pandemic. I found myself wanting to break up a run by making something, especially based on what I had been thinking about on the run.

Tell us about your first 100-mile experience. I like this story!

I was lucky enough to pace my friend Brandon Worthington (an incredible runner and person) at the Cocodona 250 Mile, where I decided to make it my first 100 miler. It was atypical, and it was perfect. I really enjoy the adventure that pacing offers, it’s almost better than racing for me.

What attracted you to painting?

Painting specifically is a stubborn medium, in my opinion. Acrylic paints allow layering, whereas watercolors are thinner but adaptable after drying. I enjoy the versatility of each kind of paint. It’s fun to continually reinvent yourself depending on the medium — your style in a different paint is a different style.

Are there any artists or athletes who have influenced and inspired you?

I have been awestruck by San Juan County locals. The gentle propensity for philanthropy and well-roundedness is very apparent, working in Silverton. The local explorers in this area walk and play in quiet ways, and nothing is more powerful than intentionality.

I enjoy Beau Miles. The first video of his that I saw was one where he went on a 13-mile jaunt with a wheelbarrow to dig up and deliver a boulder his friend had broken his foot on. Seeing how he perceived ultrarunning as connective instead of goal-based was revolutionary for me. He thinks of genius ways to get outside and shift how seriously we take the sport.

All of the folks at Footprints Running are doing incredible work using their voices in running for good pertaining to the environment, which I have immense respect for.

As far as artists, I am a sucker for Renaissance art — many stories in one painting.

What’s the relationship between art and running/being outside for you?

The “so what” of running always comes up — running is a selfish thing. We all like running, have the time and resources to run a lot … so what? Storytelling and using notoriety to try to do good for the environment is a powerful answer. How we interact with our environment matters. How we make discussions with others who may interact or understand differently matters.

Making art while I am outside has come to be a practice to remember why I started running in the first place. I began running more when I needed to get outside when getting my Ethics and Politics degree. I felt overwhelmed, and though the run itself helped significantly, I was left with a “so what?” feeling.

To me, the career pivot away from humanities and urban living was eased by creating and doing. Sometimes, stopping to smell the flowers by painting one is a great way to remember what really matters. And one thing is for sure: taking care of yourself, and the ideas you give energy to and perpetuate, matters.

As a young creative, how do you keep motivation flowing? And likewise, what’s the impetus behind your running?

Motivation ebbs and flows, like most things. Lately, I am inspired by the changing of the seasons, as well as the people I interact with at work. Usually, what gets me on the easel is an itch to describe something wordless. Just as equally, running feels like an itch. Both are like airing out the laundry after being saturated by a full day.

How has landscape informed your art and your running?

The landscape is good at telling us what to do. As distraught as modern politics can make me, I know nature will be there to offer gestures of guidance.

You also work as an emergency medical technician — studying to be a paramedic — for Silverton Medical Rescue and previously as a wilderness therapy guide. How has running and art helped you in those roles?

Oh man, who would I be without running and art? I think those outlets help me process and make things much more sustainable. Silverton Medical Rescue is unique, because it’s one of the only combined search and rescue and ambulance operations in the country — and, on top of that, we operate in San Juan County, a truly wild and dangerous place. Every shift is a new story.

Emergency medical services are about being there for people on, likely, the worst days of their lives. Wilderness therapy was very similar. Without creativity and movement, their stories would be stagnant. The least I can do is try to transform that grief into something else — an adventure to see my friend the next town over on a hard day, a journey to clean up barbed wire where it shouldn’t be, a ski tour to paint a place I’ve only known well in the summer, or from a hard call. If we heal ourselves, we can see each other, and that’s what’s going to make all of this sustainable.

People die from doing what they love in nature. Last year, I gave a talk about mountain runner safety during the Hardrock 100, to make more of a discussion on planning long days responsibly, and what tends to go wrong. We plan for safety in ski touring, but there’s no known structure for what that looks like for running, because we assume that we can run out of any problem.

If you could give any advice to the struggling artist or aspiring ultrarunner, what would you say?

Thinking through it won’t make it any easier! Sometimes you just have to start. Having softness — like walking when you need to — is the best way to get into ultrarunning. Same goes for making art: draw a doodle, and that’s enough. Start somewhere.

Any art projects or run/outdoor projects you’re excited about now?

I’ve been having a good time making silly stickers.

I am excited to continue to bring a painting setup with me when I backcountry ski, backpack, or run. Nothing like carrying it obligates you to use it!

And last (very random) question that I ask everyone, if you could be a tree, what kind of tree would you be?

I would be a banyan tree — a fig that develops accessory trunks from adjacent prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. I enjoyed hanging out near them during my time in India.

Call for Comments

• Are you familiar with Nancy Stanley and her work?
• What other artist-runners would you like to see featured in this column?

Since its launch in 2021, Canadian footwear company, norda, has been consistently pushing the boundaries of trail-running footwear by blending high performance with sustainable materials. With their latest revolutionary release, the 005, they’ve created a race-day shoe that is not only lightweight and soft, but also designed to last you 1,000 kilometres (a racing season or two)—a concept virtually unheard-of in the industry.

As norda’s founder and CEO, Nick Martire (who is fond of car analogies), puts it, “We are here to build Lamborghinis. If it is not the finest, it cannot bear the norda name.”

The inspiration behind the norda 005 stems from a glaring issue: most super (racing) shoes are not designed to last–they perform well for one, or possibly two, races. This approach didn’t sit well with norda, a company committed to creating products that prioritize both performance and longevity. By leveraging revolutionary materials like bio-based Dyneema—the strongest and lightest fibre on Earth—and incorporating Arnitel’s cutting-edge super foam midsole cushioning, norda aimed to craft a shoe that would redefine what’s possible in trail running. 

The 005 took nearly two years to develop, and involved countless iterations, athlete feedback and a commitment to perfection. The 005 was built from scratch, featuring entirely new technology and design elements. “Everything was new,” explains Louis-Martin Tremblay, norda’s head of design. “We wanted it to be the lightest, strongest and most durable shoe ever made.”

The 005 has already proven its speed and capability on the global stage. Canadian ultrarunner Ray Zahab and American ultrarunner Jason Schlarb were the first athletes to test the 005 extensively, with Schlarb achieving podium finishes at the UTMB Oman and Hardrock 100 while wearing the prototype. And Quebec’s Jean-François Cauchon wore the 005 en route to his course-record-setting performance at the 2024 Quebec Mega Trail 100-mile race.

Superior materials make a superior product

The shoe’s strength begins with the upper, which is made almost entirely of bio-based Dyneema, an ultra-strong and super lightweight polyethylene fibre used in bulletproof vests, motorcycle helmets and fishing lines. Weight for weight, Dyneema is about 15 times stronger than steel and is designed to allow natural foot splay while providing exceptional durability and breathability–perfect for tackling some of the toughest ultra-trail races in the world like Hardrock 100, Western States 100 or Badwater 135. With Dyneema, there’s no need for overlays, because the material is incredibly strong. It’s highly abrasion-resistant and won’t puncture or tear, giving racers the confidence that the upper won’t let them down halfway through their 100K race.

When Martire and Tremblay began designing the midsole, they knew Arnitel’s TPEE foam would be perfect for the project. (Arnitel is a super foam that delivers the highest rebound and resilience in the industry. While most traditional racing shoes involve some compromise between energy return and longevity, the 005 excels in both, thanks to the Arnitel midsole.) Rather than a carbon-fibre plate embedded in the midsole, Martire decided to make the 005’s midsole 100 per cent Arnitel. (Previously, the highest percentage of Arnitel used in a racing midsole was 30 per cent.)

The reason brands haven’t made a shoe of 100 per cent Arnitel in the past comes down to two things: cost and availability. Arnitel foam is more expensive compared to traditional materials like EVA, which many brands use due to lower production costs. Arnitel foam might also not be as readily available or widely used in the industry as other foams, making it harder for some brands to source. Similar to shoes with a midsole plate, the 005’s midsole is highly responsive, and also protective: “Our athletes have never felt rebound like this,” says Tremblay. “And the recovery time after racing with a shoe like this is much faster.”

In a trail shoe with the most advanced upper and midsole in the world, the outsole had to be equally good. The 005’s outsole features Vibram’s most advanced rubber compound to date–Vibram MegaGrip Elite. “We wanted the outsole to be as trustworthy as a seatbelt,” Martire says. This innovative material provides excellent, reliable traction, particularly on descents and in unpredictable conditions. As Martire puts it, “When you’re so confident that you won’t slip or slide, that’s where the 005 changes things.” Lab tests by norda show that this outsole is 15 per cent grippier than the 002’s. 

The 005 combines three of the most advanced technologies in the running shoe industry—Dyneema, Arnitel and Vibram MegaGrip Elite—for the first time. When you combine three of the best, you get a shoe that delivers on performance, durability and sustainability. 

Challenges and breakthroughs

Developing the 005 did not come without hurdles. The team encountered significant challenges, particularly with the Dyneema upper, which had never been used in a performance running shoe. Tremblay tells Canadian Running they wanted to work with the world’s strongest material to develop a seamless and blister-free upper that could withstand tough conditions and terrain. But the process required extensive trial and error: “We had to scrap almost everything a year into development,” Tremblay reveals. “We were learning as we were building it, so we had to get back to the roots and figure out what we were trying to accomplish.”

The midsole also presented a unique challenge; Tremblay says it went through more than 100 iterations before they found the perfect formula, balancing rebound, density and durability. The team wanted trail runners to be able to feel the terrain under their feet, which meant they didn’t want a stack height that was too high. It was challenging to find the sweet spot between cushioning and ground feel.

But they evidently hit the sweet spot; Martire recalls asking Schlarb to use the prototype while training in Oman, without racing in it, so as not to spark curiosity about the shoe before it was ready for market. Schlarb ignored Martire’s request–and finished on the podium. “I had a rocket in my bag,” Schlarb texted. “So why not use it?” 

The design philosophy 

The development process for the 005 involved seven prototype iterations before the team agreed on the final design. Tremblay knew the shoe didn’t need to be flashy; its cutting-edge features would speak for themselves and make it stand out in the world of trail-running footwear. “When norda designs a shoe, we aren’t just looking at what is in front of us in the trail industry,” he says. “We are aware of what other leading brands are doing, but we are mostly inspired by adjacent industries and do not look to footwear, because our innovation goal is so much higher than what currently exists from the major brands.”

Norda’s commitment to sustainability is also evident in the 005’s design. While Martire notes that no shoe can be entirely recycled into another, the Arnitel midsole uses up to 30 per cent recycled compounds, and the materials’ durability ensures the shoe lasts significantly longer than anything else on the market. With a lifespan of more than 1,000 kilometres, the 005 offers unmatched value, allowing most serious ultra-trail runners to get through a year of racing with just two pairs.

Norda’s broader mission is to create performance products that leave a positive legacy. “There are 22 billion shoes sent to landfills every year,” says Martire. “The best thing we can do at norda is create a product that lasts longer.”

The market

Designed primarily as a race-day shoe, the norda 005 can help any trail runner reach new heights. “This shoe is for anyone who wants to achieve their full potential,” says Martire. “Whether you’re competing at elite levels or pushing personal limits, the 005’s combination of cutting-edge technology and durability makes it up to the task.”

More than just a trail shoe, the 005 is a statement from the Montreal-based brand—a bold proclamation that performance, sustainability and design excellence can all coexist in a shoe that looks like a piece of art.

For runners who are ready to take on the pinnacle of innovation, the 005 will be available worldwide in mid-March on norda’s website  (nordarun.com), priced at US$325 and C$325—a nod to the brand’s Canadian roots. This is a “top of the line” shoe; Martire says the price reflects a brand that’s pushing performance and responsibility, premium materials and premium craftsmanship. 

The launch of the 005 signals a pivotal moment for the running footwear industry and invites other brands to rethink their approach to sustainability and performance. By setting new standards, norda not only enhances the athlete’s experience but also contributes to a more conscientious future for footwear design.

Produced in partnership with norda