Winnipeg man completes cross-Canada run for cancer research
Jackson Charron-Okerlund crossed the finish line of his 160-day, 7,000-km campaign in Port Coquitlam, B.C., on Saturday
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A Winnipeg man inspired by Terry Fox‘s Marathon of Hope has fulfilled his years-long dream of running across Canada after completing his 7,000-kilometre, 160-day trek from St. John’s, N.L., to Port Coquitlam, B.C. on Saturday.
Jackson Charron-Okerlund, 25, kicked off his Coast to Coast for a Cure campaign on March 6 from the Terry Fox memorial in St. John’s. It was from that city that Fox set out on his 1980 attempt to run across Canada to raise money to fight cancer, the disease that forced him to have most of his right leg amputated and claimed his life in 1981. Although Fox’s Marathon of Hope came to an abrupt end in Thunder Bay, Ont., after 143 days and 5,373 kilometres when it was revealed the cancer had spread to his lungs, his heroic effort soon became the stuff of legend, turning Fox into one the best known and most widely admired figures in recent Canadian history.
Charron-Okerlund, who has been chronicling his own cross-country journey on social media, said Fox’s example not only fuelled his spirits during the 160-day challenge, but motivated him through four years of training that routinely included runs of between 20 and 40 km.
“(Fox’s) story gave me the strength and the hope to build myself up to this point and do something like this,” Charron-Okerlund said early in his campaign. “I just wanted to honour him in a way that I could just show what he means to me.”
Charron-Okerlund said he also drew inspiration from supporters he met along the way. “People have been hunting me down on the Trans-Canada Highway giving me cash donations and each and every one of those people has a story to share about cancer, about how they’ve been affected in their lives. So now every single step I take is for those people and those families.”
That extra motivation was surely welcome as the runner faced a treacherous mix of blizzards, severe heat, torrential rain and wildfire smoke along the way.
Along with giving him added inspiration to keep moving forward, those he met on the journey also offered crucial material support, providing a hot meal or a place to stay for the night.
A former care-home worker, Charron-Okerlund said the run allowed him to make a difference in the lives of others “on a bigger scale.”
As of Tuesday, Charron-Okerlund had raised more then $44,000 of his $50,000 GoFundMe campaign target.
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