Little Lily and her running

I meet fellow runners all the time, on a run, on the bus, at meetings and on social media. I was trawling Twitter the other day and stumbled across a young runner who seemed to ooze the sport. Lily, from I what I could find out online and from her mom is also more about just running. Her heart, while strong from all the cardio, also seems to have grown from her selflessness.

All I knew was I wanted to know more and profile another young Canadian runner.

Lily

Lily Edmunds is an 11-year-old girl who lives in Newmarket, Ont. with her parents, Chris and Laura, and her brother William. Lily likes drawing and loves playing video games, apparently Sonic the Hedgehog; the video-game character was her first inspiration to run.

Lily is very active with school groups and clubs and her mother says she has a passion for animals and seems to be a bit of an animal whisperer.

“She’s had a mother raccoon drop at her feet and give birth to a litter of babies at the Toronto Zoo in front of a crowd of on lookers. Birds land on her hands like Snow White. A ground hog at York University, to the surprise of the Masters team who were watching Lily and the ground hog become friends, approached Lily and let her pet, scratch and feed him.”

Lily and running

Lily’s mom, Laura, says her daughter loves every minute of her running and training. Laura says Lilly’s not only an accomplished athlete, but also a young philanthropist who has raised thousands of dollars for local and global charities. She apparently has participated in over 16 5K runs and collected money for each charity attached to each run. She even took the time to raise over $1,000 for her school to buy new computers.

I got hold of Lily and asked her a few questions about her running.

What do you like about running?

“I like when I complete the race with a PB. I like it because it’s a fun activity. I love my team and have made a lot of friends. I love to raise money for charity too. I like reaching my goals for the charities I run for.”

What are your long-term running goals?

“My long term goals are to make it to the Olympics and raise $10,000 for the charities I race for in the seven years it will take me to get to the Olympics. I can’t wait to run for Canada at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. I really believe that you can make your dreams come true if you work hard and do nice things for people and kids who can’t run.”

What do you have to say to kids who say running is boring or too much work?

“They should try a fun run instead of running on a treadmill or just up the sidewalk. Sign up for one with a cool medal, a mud or colour run, or one that is for a charity you like. The feeling you get when you collect donations for charities, cross the line, get your medal and see everyone happy for each other is amazing! You’re proud and happy.”

See you on the roads or in the blogosphere.

Do you have a running story to tell?

runningwriter@hotmail.com

You can also catch me on Twitter @NoelPaine or on my personal blog.