Toolia Ulvik

34 years old

For Toolia Ulvik, running in the mountains has become a way to reconnect with what truly matters. A physiotherapist and kinesiologist, the 34-year-old athlete spent years racing marathons and half marathons in Canada and Europe before discovering trail running and immediately falling in love with it.

In 2025, Toolia stood on the starting line of the UTHC 20 km under very different circumstances. Just weeks earlier, she had been diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer and knew her treatments would begin shortly after the race. That day in the Charlevoix mountains became an opportunity to gather energy, joy and memories before taking on the greatest challenge of her life.

Throughout treatment, Toolia continued to move and run whenever her body allowed. To her, the road toward remission feels much like an ultra: long, unpredictable and demanding, but always filled with hope.

In 2026, she returns to Harricana to take another step forward with her first 42 km trail race. As the founder of Pista Run Club, Toolia hopes to use her story to encourage women in particular to move, take their place and discover the strength and sense of community that sport can provide.

And perhaps her connection to the pack was written all along: in her Norwegian name, “Ulv” means… wolf.