Running For A Cause: Up A Mountain Or Two

Running or walking for a cause has become more and more popular over the last few years. Whether it is being used for extra motivation to complete that difficult race or to give something back to a organization or cause that is near and dear to your heart.

Personally, I have been looking for that perfect opportunity to help out a cause in my own little unique way and this year that chance has finally come my way. A friend of mine, Cindy in Canmore, who is the promotions guru for The Ultimate Fit Centre pulled some strings with the Grizzly Ultra Race Director, Tony Smith, to get my registration fee waived if I finished the race barefoot. I jumped at the opportunity and proposed a bit of a twist. If I finished I would donate the registration fee to charity and if I didn’t finish I would double the donation and split it between my cause and one of their choice. Everybody thought the idea was fantastic and both The Grizzly Ultra and The Ultimate Fit Centre committed to similar donation schemes.

With this, The Grizzly Ultra Barefoot Challenge was born. So on October 13th of this year I will be running the Grizzly Ultra 50km in Canmore, at the foot of the Rockies, barefoot. Please take the time to check out the Facebook page link and join the fun. We will be having some interesting contests through out the summer and leading up to the race with updates on training and some fun facts along the way. Please like the page and share it with your friends, remember at the end of the day the  only ones benefiting from your generosity are the kids, all funds raised will go towards the programs for the kids as this was my mandate when we started this.

The charities of choice Start2Finish through Ted’s Run For Literacy and Kidsport Bow Valley Chapter, both focusing around helping kids in need get a positive experience through physical activity and literacy.

If you were not aware, I am also running The Canadian DeathRace solo this summer, and through the Death Racer community I have had the pleasure to meet some extraordinary people who are running for some amazing causes. Let me introduce you to two of them:

Michael Stephenson: Like myself, Michael hails from Winnipeg, he has completed the Death Race as part of a relay team and had aspirations to complete it solo. Unfortunately, he fell sick with cancer shortly after his first CDR experience and he had to put his goal on hold while he underwent the biggest battle of his life. With a drive to get better and a support system that was second to none, Michael has beat the cancer and now looks to conquer the Death Race, and raise some much needed funds for CancerCare Manitoba in the process. Read more about Michael’s journey here and help his cause by donating at this link. Of course any donation to Cancer Care across the country is appreciated, so please be generous, we need to find a cure for this affliction that affects millions of people.

Scott Herrin, is from Solana, California and has a personal reason for running CDR. His nephew, who hails from Grande Cache, home of the Death Race was born with a cleft lip. He has since had surgery to fix the problem and is thriving, but with this Scott got to thinking about other kids that do not have the same opportunity. So he has focused all his energy on raising money for Operation Smile, the International children’s medical charity that helps heal kid’s smiles. What is more priceless than a child’s smile? Absolutely nothing. Scott is taking pledges for every km he runs (which will be 125 for sure), please take a look and help support here. 

This is just a small sample of the good things that runners are doing these days, a big initiative for sure. So please come out and support and if you are in the neighbourhood race day come say hi, we would appreciate it.

You can also check out my blog for more information and details on the Grizzly Ultra Barefoot Challenge.