Tom Longboat Day run in Toronto

Toronto-area runners:

MPP Mike Colle, along with Race Director Alan Brookes from the Canada Running Series, have organized a 5K run along the Humber River to celebrate the first “official” Tom Longboat Day. The Province of Ontario unanimously approved the Tom Longboat Day Resolution, introduced by Colle, in the Ontario Legislature on April 15.

“This legendary Canadian has been ignored for too long,” said Colle. “This local hero will now receive the recognition he so rightly deserved, and our children will now have the opportunity to learn about, and be inspired by, the story of Tom Longboat.”

Where: Etienne Brulé Park (Off the parking lot on Old Mill Road)

When: Friday June 4 at 6:15 p.m. (speeches and official opening will precede the run)

Who: M.P.P. Mike Colle, Longboat Roadrunners club members, Canada Running Series staff, Canadian Running magazine editor-in-chief Michal Kapral

What: 5K Run up the Humber River (to Lambton Park) and back

Tom Longboat Resolution:

That, in the opinion of this House, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario should proclaim June 4^th of each year Tom Longboat Day in the Province of Ontario. Born on June 4th, 1887, in the Six Nations Reserve near Brantford, Ontario, Tom Longboat was one of the most celebrated and accomplished athletes in Canadian history, and one of the world’s greatest long distance runners. He served as a dispatch carrier with the 107th Pioneer Battalion in France, delivering messages around the most treacherous battlegrounds, Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele. Tom Longboat was a brave Ontarian, who demonstrated strength and poise in the face of discrimination and ridicule, inspiring Ontarians and fans across the world to strive for greatness. Proclaiming June 4th as Tom Longboat Day in Ontario will provide our children, and all Ontarians, the opportunity to learn about and be inspired by Tom Longboat’s story, allowing his legacy, and a piece of Ontario’s history, to live on.