Ontario man begins 750K run for mental health

An Ontario began his eight-day, 750km run from Port Severn to Ottawa early Monday morning.

At about 6:30 a.m. Monday, ultrarunner Clay Williams started his run to raise money and awareness about the dangers of depression. Williams lost two older brothers who took their own lives as a result of depression.

In the first 34 hours of the run, Williams covered 174 km. He will run along province’s Trent-Severn Waterway to Trenton, where he will then drive to Kingston and follow the Rideau Canal to Ottawa.

“A friend of mine’s wife said something like ‘you should run across the country for a charity’ and my first thought was that I don’t have enough vacation time,” Williams told Canadian Running in the spring. That was when he decided to map a route he could more easily tackle in about a week.

Called the Canal Pursuit for Mental Health, Williams has so far raised just under $9,000 for the charity Defeat Depression.

Williams is expected to finish to run early next week.