In the 1960s, Bruce Kidd was one of Canada’s most celebrated athletes. As a teenager, Kidd won races all over the globe, participated in the Olympics, and started a revolution in distance running and a revival in Canadian track and field. He quickly became a symbol of Canadian youth and the subject of endless media coverage.

Although most athletes of his generation were cautioned to keep their opinions to themselves, Kidd took it upon himself to speak out on the problems and possibilities of Canadian sport. Encouraged by his parents and teammates, Kidd criticized the racism and sexism of amateur sport in Canada, the treatment of players in the National Hockey League, American control of the Canadian Football League, and the uneven coverage of sports by the media – and he continues to fight for equity to this day. After retiring from his career as an athlete, Kidd became a well-known advocate for gender and racial justice and an academic leader at the University of Toronto.

Depicting a Canadian sport legend’s journey of joy, discovery, and activism, this memoir bears witness to the remarkable changes Bruce Kidd has lived through in more than seventy years of participation in Canadian and international sports.

Bruce Kidd is a former Olympic athlete, member of Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame and the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame, and an Officer of the Order of Canada. He has been a lifelong advocate of human rights and has worked with local, national, and international bodies to advance sport for all. A professor emeritus in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education at the University of Toronto, he currently serves as U of T ombudsperson.

Bruce Kidd's profile page

• Winner, 2022 Outstanding Acedemic Title awarded by Choice

"In A Runner’s Journey, Kidd takes the reader inside the life of one of Canada’s greatest and most complex athletes. Whether it is his discussion of his unconventional athletic background (his late start in track and field, and his affinity for social activism from a young age), or analyzing his sudden skyrocketing to fame, he offers a compelling memoir from the opening page."

<em>Medium</em>

"Anyone interested in the history of Canadian sports, international track and field and the Olympic movement will find great value in this entertaining and informative memoir."

<em>Canadian Running Magazine</em>