When we first started Bandit, “success” wasn’t a revenue number or a follower count or whatever other spreadsheet-shaped dopamine hit you send in quarterly. It has always been way simpler: did we do anything that actually evolves running? If the answer’s no, back to the drawing board. Products, experiences, partnerships, creative—we’ve tried to run all of it through the same filter: challenge the old version of ourselves and flip the status quo of the sport. Turn the 6 upside down, that’s a 9 now Toronto type.
That mindset hit even harder once we started working with run specialty retailers who are doing the exact same thing, just with a front door and a neighborhood. Because the best shops aren’t “stores”—they’re community HQs. They’re the place you show up for shoes and somehow leave with a new crew, a new route, and a new reason to care about the sport.
Enter: Culture Athletics out of Toronto. If you’ve spent any time around the city’s running scene, you’ve felt their gravity. They’ve been building culture (name checks out), bringing people together, and pushing the whole thing forward—loudly, intentionally, and with taste.
We sat down with Nigel and Sarah, the founders behind Culture Athletics, to talk shop—literally. Big thanks to them for the time and the candor. Tap in below, and keep an eye on what they do next.
Photo by Koray Salih
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FULL INTERVIEW
Who are Nigel and Sarah? Give us the deep and skinny. (Where’d you grow up, super high-level on your role with Culture Athletics, how you got into running, what was life like before RSG etc. etc.)
Sarah and I are life partners (married) and business partners. We have very different backgrounds and stories, but at our core we’re really similar — passionate, driven, competitive, love for sport and physical wellbeing.
Sarah and I are both born and raised in the east-end of Toronto, but lived very different paths to Culture. Sarah grew up playing competitive basketball in Scarborough, I grew up smoking dope, skateboarding and being a wannabe delinquent. Coincidentally we actually lived on the same street as little kids, but never actually had a conversation until our late twenties. Kind of like a two ships in the night sort of thing.
The background behind culture:
When I was a kid I wanted to move to Hawaii and open a surf shop on the beach. But I never moved to Hawaii and I never learned how to surf. Then I got into skateboarding and fantasized about opening a skate shop. Then it was snowboarding, then it was mountain biking. Eventually I realized that my dream life was to work in community-based retail. To live a life that allows me to live where others go for vacation — and that’s when I had the realization that fitness running and working out was my vacation. That's why we feel so lucky about culture. We get to live where others work to visit. We feel really blessed.
Before Culture, I was living the corporate life. I was at a shiny company, shiny team, shiny job, existential dread. So I took some courses through the city of Toronto and learned how to compose a business plan. After a few rounds of revisions, dollars started to make sense, I got the plan approved, got some grants, some funding and with a bunch of credit card debt we were off to the races haha. Believe it or not, but we opened our doors with a total of 12 shoes. It’s now grown to over 200 haha.
Sarah and I actually connected when I was working that corporate marketing job, fantasizing about living a life of purpose and meaning. I was nervous to tell her I was planning on leaving my cushy 9-5 to start a running store and she was all for it. Her exact response was “that’s wild. I want in.” From there we were inseparable partners. I always joke that I’m the heart and she’s the soul. Sarah’s influence has always been the thoughtful, meaningful anchor to what we do and has really shaped us into the more rounded entity that we are today.
Side note -- Sarah’s actually the talented one in our relationship. She’s a personal trainer, holistic nutritionist, yogi trained in traditional practices in India, breath work instructor, meditation percussionist, talented painter and tattoo artist. So she brings a lot to the table haha.
The way we divide and conquer is Sarah leads the buying and finance operations. I’m marketing, operations and business development. There’s a major misconception that Culture isn’t a true partnership (because I’m the loud guy in front of the mic), but what sets Culture apart is all of the thought, care and hard work that Sarah (and our amazing team), puts in behind the scenes.
Ok before, we jump into any related follow up questions, because we like to keep it spicy - what’s one thing you’ve never really said in an interview about yourself. Give us a nugget that pulls back the layers a little bit. (feel free to go deep, or just be weird… this is meant to just show your personality and what you’re all about a little bit more)
I’m a very positive person — I think that’s maybe one of the things I’m most know for. But I am definitely not a positive, kumbaya runner. Yes, I focus on enjoying the moment and enjoying the process. But when it comes to racing, I find the power of positivity only gets me so far. Eventually I gotta reach for some skeletons in the closet and put a chip on my shoulder. I dunno what it is — I just run better when I’m mad haha.
Also — super hot take (don’t hate me). I don’t like running instagram and don’t follow anything run related on my personal IG (with a few special exceptions). There is literally nothing I love more than talking shop and running and learning about everyone’s running journeys and if there’s a way I can help. But I don’t care about your Strava art or GRWM or the running reel that took you hours to edit haha. That just isn’t me (sorry!).
Toronto is popping off! The Toronto Marathon in both spring and the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon are growing like crazy. We’ve absolutely loved watching the community and culture you guys are building within the four walls of Culture, but as a whole, what makes the Toronto run scene special? Toronto’s run scene feels like it’s finding its voice right now. If you had to define its personality in a few words, what would they be—and why?
Diversity has always been a strength of our city and I think that’s a big part of why run culture has taken off the way it has here. It seems like every type of community has a space to express itself in Toronto running and that expression and representation has created this really contagious vibe that draws people in and has built such awesome momentum. It doesn’t matter your background or your relationship with the sport, there’s a community that you’ll resonate with. Then layer on the welcoming Canadian nature — most groups are so intertwined and integrated. It’s an amazing perfect storm.
Toronto’s running personality... I'd have to say diverse, welcoming and fun. I feel like most clubs in Toronto don’t take themselves too seriously and make a point to grow the sport. So all the clubs and crews are really integrated so it can feel like one big integrated community versus a collection of islands.
Now with Culture Athletics specifically - what’s the goal and mission?
Our goal is to make the world a better place one athlete at a time. Whether that’s helping good people get into the sport. Or helping empower existing athletes get more out of the sport they love, we want to be here to help support people through our lens of wellness and authenticity.
What inspires you? How are you integrating those inspirations into the Culture world/store experience?
Our biggest inspiration is helping people realize a healthy relationship with themselves and what they’re capable of. Whether it’s running, training, or yoga, we love helping people throughout their fitness journey. So many people think running and fitness is for someone else — not them. If you can help set someone up with the right gear and experience to get started, you can help change the trajectory of someone’s perception of themselves, their capacity and ultimately their life.
We keep that custodial spirit in everything that we do and ensure it’s felt by everyone that interacts with us. Whether your're a customer, member of our community, or you pass us screaming during a race — we want to impact everyone with a little positivity and inspo to expand.
Five years from now, what do you hope Culture changed about how people experience running in Canada?
We’d love to see Toronto’s community continue to grow — not only in size, but in cultural significance. The Toronto running community is vibrant and progressive. And we want to continue to champion our city and get the international eyes on it it deserves. There’s something special happening here — we want to help incubate it, celebrate it and put a spotlight on it best we can. In five years I want to see the city as a stronger presence on the international running stage and feel that we did our part to help things get there.
Ok - a quick intermission of speed round of questions to break things up:
Favorite trainer to run in (currently):
Nigel: New Balance Rebel v5,
Sarah: Bondis
Album (music) that you discovered recently that you’ve been rinsing:
Young Nudy, Paradise has been on pretty steady rotation for the past few months. Same with a lot of Young Miko.
Dream marathon/race that you have on the run bucket-list:
Berlin! A fun, fast major, wrapped in an unreal weekend. Then roll that straight into Octoberfest
One quote you love/think about a lot:
Life isn’t meant to be easy, but it is meant to be enjoyed. I don’t know who said it, but if you know me, you’ve heard me say this before haha
Favorite piece of (non-running) clothing you’ve acquired recently:
Vintage Carhartt work jacket from my dad. We’ve been doing some major renos lately and the old man blessed me with the jacket that’s treated him well for so many years.
Real quick, looking back at 2025 - Bandit HQ office collectively lost our minds when you guys dropped this piece. You didn't have to go that hard. How did it come to life? What was that creative process on this one? What were you trying to accomplish?
Man, the UIM capsule and pop-up took a village to come to life the way it did. It was honestly such a collective effort of so many people throughout our community — people wanting to put on for their city and show how we get down. Toronto is a city of underdogs and I feel like collectively we feel like we’ve always got something to prove — so we wanted to do just that. This was a moment we had been working on with the Bandit, Don’t Trip and Super Fantastic team for a long time, so we didn’t want to waste it.
I gotta say everyone involved killed it and we’re stoked to show what’s coming next.
What’s giving you momentum right now looking ahead for the year 2026—and what are you chasing next?
Honestly, our extended team right now is so passionate and strong — we’ve got a force burning inside us. The sport is growing faster than ever and we want to give as many people as possible a taste of what sport can and should mean. I can’t say too much about what’s next, but we’ve got some awesome stuff in the pipeline and are stoked to share it with the world. That being said, a big focus of ours is to continue to put runners at the centre of what we do and strive to ensure we push ourselves and our partners to elevate our role in the running journey.
What’s been your proudest moment with your involvement related to Culture?
We’ve got people that ran their very first kilometer with us now racing marathons and trying for world majors. We’ve helped people battle through depression and addiction and come out the other side as someone they’re proud of. I think the number of lives we’ve touched and how we can genuinely say that we’re a presence of good in our world — it means a lot to us.
Someone’s in Toronto for 24 hours and wants to run, eat, and feel the city. What’s the Culture- co-signed itinerary?
Easy. Breakfast at Masa Deli, come say what up at Culture around the corner after. Run along the MGT (either downtown or Ashbridges, you can’t go wrong). Lunch at Pho Tien Thanh on Ossington. Hit up Kensington Market for some sights. Dinner at Dreyfus on Harbord. I don’t know where to go for drinks after — I’m not cool like that. Everywhere I used to go is probably closed now haha. Unrelated controversial take, but if you’re looking for the best burger in the city, you gotta hit Allen’s on the Danforth — major institution.
Awesome - can’t wait to hang in your home city this year. Any parting words, shout-outs, etc.?
A few quick things…
Toronto runners — we love you and are so proud to be a part of what you’re doing. I’ve been around the world and we’ve got something special happening here. Stay true to yourself and enjoy the moment.
International runners — come say what up. The south is known for their hospitality, but I think Toronto could put that to the test.
To everyone that made the UIM experience what it was — thank you again! It was a major joint effort and I’m so proud of how the city showed out.
Last but not least — like I said before, life isn’t meant to be easy, but it is supposed to be enjoyed. The same can be said for running — or any sport really. It’s supposed to challenge you, expose you and humble you.. But if you stick with it long enough, give it enough of yourself, it’ll also show you who you really are.
Below are some photos from the Bandit x Culture Collab in 2025. More soon!
