There’s nothing like a makeover to reinvigorate you. A new dash of colour, a little spice in your life. I am so excited to show you the new look of Women’s Post online and invite you to take part in the new online experience.

Let’s go over some of our new features. We’ve adopted a Disqus commenting feature for articles that will allow you to quickly login with your Facebook, Twitter, or Google account to comment on a story you’ve just read.

We’ve added a very handy new sidebar to give you easy access to the latest stories from all over the website from the main page and also article pages.

Of course, these are only two changes picked out of a complete overhaul. We’ve taken our time making WomensPost.ca the most user-friendly and intuitive website it can be to make sure there is no learning curve for our regular readers making the switch.

Excited as I am yet? The new website gives us a million better ways to connect with you as readers and lets readers connect with each other for meaningful discussion while we’re providing you with thoughtful content. That’s pretty exciting stuff.

Over the next couple of weeks we’ll be working towards getting our whole back catalogue of articles ported over to the new website for you to browse so be sure to check back for any old favourites.

Try out the new commenting system and let us know what you think about the makeover

Following the tragedy witnessed in Boston on Monday, many have expressed concern as to the safety of similar sporting events. Some have even questioned if marathons of this scale will ever take place again. One must remember that marathons are not simply a competition, but a community fueled by family-like support. After April 15th in Boston these values were threatened. Sirens wailed, debris flew, people suffered. Fear overthrew exhilaration, confusion replaced clarity and terror succeeded joy.

As spring finally dawns on us, runners take to the streets, pounding pavement and logging miles.  These runners share an unspoken common bond. They understand the thrill felt as an audience floods the streets, empowering them to keep going despite aching limbs. They are trained individuals who have come to terms with everything from anti-chafe balm to lost toenails. As athletes, they persevere through all conditions whether it be scorching heat or bitter rain. They fight through the pain, tape up their blisters, tie their laces and carry on.

Having two marathon runners as parents, I have attended many marathons and have watched them pass the finish line. I’m not a seasoned athlete. In fact, I am very new to the sport. After many sedentary years of watching my parents register in countless runs across North America, I finally pushed myself to get involved too. Even as a spectator, the atmosphere and sense of camaraderie among runners is magnetic. Monday’s tragedy really hit too close to home for me.

The running community is large and strong with athletes of all ages, ethnicity and skill levels joining together in early morning running groups, training sessions and full marathons. These men and women epitomize dedication, stamina and perseverance, displaying resilience despite unfavourable conditions and surroundings. A marathon like Boston would take years of training to even qualify.

Marathon runners and their supporters, together with race volunteers and emergency personnel, made the decision to persevere through this tragedy. They refused to allow the fear, confusion and terror to define them. Locals and visitors alike rushed to donate blood at local hospitals, helped the injured to safety and supported each other during this time of need. Despite the dread and shock felt internationally, the values that motivate runners each day rippled throughout the city of Boston.

Today is a day of reflection. A day to think of the heroes dedicated to saving lives, the capacity of countless individuals to act quickly despite the horrors surrounding them and the altruism of those who opened their doors to those unable to return to their locked-down hotels.

The spirit of runners cannot be broken. They gathered in Boston on Monday to show just that, instilling in us the strength to persevere despite tragedy. In future marathons, runners will stand in solidarity remembering the April day when their values were threatened. These are the same values that keep them running through sleet, that put them through months of painful physiotherapy, that keep them running for hours and allow them to still have a smile on their face as they cross the finish line. No amount of terror or violence can threaten the powerful kinship of runners.

What was supposed to be a celebration of running and health yesterday for Boston marathon participants and their families/friends turned out to be a war zone. Two loud blasts went off at 2:50 pm near the finish line – Boylston Street, just off Copley Square. A second bomb followed a few seconds later just 100 feet away. There was a huge cloud of smoke. Participants and their loved ones were sent running for cover.

It was over four hours and nine minutes into the race when the two explosions went off. There was absolute panic and chaos and phone lines were down, which prevented participants and family from contacting each other.

In the New York Times yesterday, Roupen Bastajian, 35, a Rhode Island state trooper and former Marine, recounted: “These runners just finished and they don’t have legs now. So many of them. There are so many people without legs. It’s all blood. There’s blood everywhere. You got bones, fragments. It’s disgusting.”

Three people are confirmed dead, including an 8-year-old boy now identified as Martin Richard. He was there watching his father run. There are over 100 people injured.

In a recent interview via email, Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to run the Boston Marathon in 1967, shared her story:

“It was awful. I had just finished a five hour broadcast and left the finish line and was back at my hotel when it happened, so I was safe and so was Roger (her husband) in the hotel press room. The hotel went into lockdown so we watched on TV and from our window. I am grateful not to be hurt but so sad for the tragedy and destruction of others.”

“We will mourn the dead and injured. I also mourn the Boston Marathon and how it’s now been brutally disfigured.”

Switzer adds, “The Boston Marathon matters in a way other sporting events simply do not. It started in 1897, inspired by the first modern marathon, which took place at the inaugural 1896 Olympics. It attracts 500,000 spectators and over 20,000 participants from 96 countries. Every year, on the big day, the Red Sox play a game that starts at the wacky hour of 11:05 a.m. so people leaving the game can empty onto Kenmore Square and cheer on the finishers. It’s not about celebrating stars but the ability to test your body against the 26.2 mile course, which covers eight separate Massachusetts towns and the infamous ‘Heartbreak Hill’ in Newton. It’s as much New England in spring as the changing of the leaves in fall. It’s open and communitarian and utterly unique.”

There were about 23,000 runners—2000 of whom were Canadian— who crossed the finish line before the first bomb went off.

The Boston Marathon will never be the same.

One in three Canadians lives with tooth hypersensitivity. Are you one of them?

First noted in a medical journal in 1870, dentine hypersensitivity is a “short sharp pain in response to stimuli.” Anything, from biting into certain foods to using a toothbrush, can cause those who have sensitive teeth to feel the pain.

This isn’t a problem that just comes as a natural part of aging. Most people who experience the twinge are between 20 and 50 years old. The main causes today? Brushing too hard, teeth grinding, gum disease, receding gums and bleaching. As well, the early 20s are when your gums can start to recede, and the newly exposed part of the tooth, which isn’t used to the environment in the mouth, can react negatively to the new stimuli.

At a recent roundtable, Dr. Leonard Litkowski, co-inventor of the NovaMin® Technology in Sensodyne’s groundbreaking new Repair & Protect toothpaste, spoke of the damaging effects of dentine hypersensitivity. “On a global scale, it’s a highly important topic,” Litkowski states. “Pain holds many patients back from doing what they like.”

Luckily, there are options for those living with tooth pain. The NovaMin® in Sensodyne Repair & Protect toothpaste is the first material known to help form a reparative layer over and within exposed dentine. And according to Litkowski, “the reparative layer is harder than the natural, underlying dentine it replaced.” Sensodyne Repair & Protect has a very unique way of generating this layer, which has similar chemical characteristics to the minerals from which the tooth is made. With twice daily brushing, the toothpaste generates the reparative layer where dentine is exposed, helping to prevent pain.

For people who feel the pain of dentine hypersensitivity, this is a fantastic breakthrough. Still offering all the benefits of a regular toothpaste, Repair & Protect will both help repair sensitive teeth and provide protection against future damage, where dentine is exposed and with twice daily brushing. After two weeks of treatment with twice daily use, tooth sensitivity is significantly reduced.

With such innovative new technology, Sensodyne Repair & Protect toothpaste is making Canadians’ smiles look even healthier by helping to repair their sensitive teeth.

For more information, visit the Sensodyne website.