SCULPTED rock canyons, azure rivers, alpine wildflower meadows, jagged peaks, hanging glaciers and giant 1,400-yearold red cedars await visitors to the littleknown Incomappleux Valley in the Selkirk Mountains near Revelstoke, B.C. And the cozy Mountain Hostel sits right in the heart of it.

Owner Patrick Pyrz's craftsmanship and ingenuity are evident throughout the beautiful two-storey eco-lodge, which accommodates 10 and features wrought ironwork, stone shingles, recycled windows and timbers, a dining table that folds down from the ceiling and off-the-grid electricity from a nearby stream. Pyrz encourages guests to tread lightly by exploring one of the most spectacular forests remaining in North America on foot, mountain bike, skis or snowshoes. With the area currently licensed to a logging company, tourism could help add fuel to the campaign to preserve the Incomappleux. For more, visit www.mountainhostel.ca

— Jakob Dulisse

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ON YOUR MARK…get set…it's marathon season. While most runners race purely for the challenge, more of them than ever are travelling afar for marathon experiences, says John Stanton, founder of the Running Room, a national retailer. After a typical 18-week training period, usually starting in January, many runners hit the road.

"It's a nice way to celebrate all the training we've gone through and to see the country,” says Stanton.

Runners can follow the Pacific coast in the Vancouver Marathon (May 4), lope along the Rideau Canal (below) during Ottawa Race Weekend (May 23-25) or take on the Blue Nose Marathon's hilly Halifax course (May 16-18).

Marathon organizers also cater to travelling families, says Stanton. Edmonton, Ottawa, Regina and Halifax are among the events that offer 5-, 10- and 21-kilometre halfmarathon courses to encourage families to run together.

Find Canadian marathons at www.runningroom.com or www.marathonguide.com.

HOW DOES A CITY commemorate a great writer? That was the question facing Winnipeggers when adopted daughter and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Carol Shields died in 2003. This spring, that question will be answered with the Carol Shields Memorial Labyrinth.

The labyrinth was inspired by Shields' 1997 novel Larry's Party, whose main character, a Winnipegger named Larry Weller, designs them. A labyrinth differs from a hedge maze, in that users can see where they are going and are led through a winding path, making it more of a symbolic journey than a puzzle. Labyrinths are associated with meditation, reflection and healing.

"There's nothing like this in the world,” says project coordinator Anne Nesbitt. The 45.7-metre-diameter labyrinth's downhill trend, makes it more relaxing to follow, and its location in King's Park - near the University of Manitoba, where Shields and her husband Don taught - is exactly the type of area from which her characters might have sprung. Larry would be proud