How Halifax’s famous donair fueled one man’s goal to run a marathon

A Nova Scotia man says he recently trained for his first marathon in the most Halifax way possible: by eating dozens of donairs.

As part of his training, David Wadden trekked to 59 different locations to devour the pitas filled with spiced meat, fresh onions and tomatoes covered in a sweet sauce. Keeping with local tradition, lettuce was not on the menu.

“At the end of the day, I think it’s the donair itself that just brings everybody together,” he mused.

Wadden moved to Halifax from Cape Breton in 2018. After realizing he had little to offer in terms of donair recommendations whenever friends visited from outside the city, he embarked on a mission to strengthen his bond with Halifax’s official food.

“I decided … what if I ran or did an exercise to get to the donairs? And then the name ‘Donairathon’ came to be,” he said.

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Wadden says he jogged and biked more than 800 kilometres across the city in hopes of locating the best donair, while also getting some exercise.

“Thirty-two kilometres was my longest run: 16 kilometres, eat the donair, and then 16 kilometres back,” he said.

5:45 Celebrating National Donair Day with King of Donair

In the process, Wadden says he became a donair connoisseur of sorts and documented his journey online.

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He shares his donair reviews afterward, based on his own ranking system, which includes noting the donairs’ weight, price and size.

“I don’t have a background in food. I don’t know if I have the best palate, but I do know that I can tell you what I’m seeing on my plate,” he said.

“So I just broke it down into a quantity category and a quality category of each ingredient in a donair and then kind of gave an overview of what I felt the donair gave me.”

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The highest rating? Joann’s Pizza Land in Clayton Park.

“This donair is, it’s a milder spice, but I really like the spice blend that they have and everything that accompanies the donair meat is exactly what I like,” he said.

“It’s a perfect complement to each part.”

The restaurant’s manager, Nidhin George, says the first-place distinction has given them a boost in business.

“It was really good. It really helped us, it really helped the business,” said George. “We started getting new customers. People seemed to love the donair.”

Beyond satisfying his own curiosity and cravings, Wadden used the opportunity to help tackle food insecurity. He partnered with Feed Nova Scotia, and encourages his fans to donate to the charity through its website.

So far, he’s raised more than $2,000.

Feed Nova Scotia is even getting a bit creative with the partnership. They’re measuring donations by, what else, donairs.

“So if you donate $10, it’s like you donated a donair, $20, you donated two donairs,” said spokesperson Mandi MacDonald.

With food bank usage rising across the province, MacDonald says community-led initiatives like Wadden’s can go a long way.

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“Sometimes just the smallest idea can turn into something that is so, so much bigger,” she said.

As for that marathon, Wadden successfully completed it two weeks ago in the Annapolis Valley.

“It was nice not having a backpack full of camera gear and donair rating supplies on my back. So that definitely helped my time,” he said.

“I did end up training enough, so I did finish the marathon, which was really nice.”

After the nine-month journey, Wadden says he has a newfound appreciation for donairs and the vast community of shop owners and customers that keep the city’s culture thriving.