Run for yourself, Run for others

Sorry I’m a little late with my first iRun blog. I first had to figure out Word press. Then it was Sue’s (my better half) birthday and our anniversary. I thought a flash back to the end of 2010 would be a good place to start: On December 31st 2010, a group of thirty intrepid runners lined up outside the Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre in Cochrane. The temperature was -32C with the wind-chill and the motley crew were jumping up and down, trying to keep warm. At precisely 9.00am, a whistle blew and the shrill note indicated the start of my final marathon of Marathon Quest 250. Six hours later, another 250 men, women and children had joined us. After running the final loop, along the Bow River, we arrived at the doors of the Sports Centre, where thirty kids joined me as I ran onto the indoor field. We were greeted by bagpipes, balloons and a huge cheering crowd. At 3.00pm marathon number 250 was completed.
That evening, a New Year celebration was held at AC’s Restaurant in Cochrane. Somehow, I managed to stay on my feet until 1.00am. Later that day, I checked to see how the fund raising was going for Right To Play. We were at $209,000, a great figure, but still well short of the $250,000 we had hoped to raise. In January, I took it easy, the donations continued to come in and, by the 18th, we had reached the target.
It took a little bit of time to adjust, after running five marathons a week for a year. I really wasn’t sure what to do back in the real world. In March I received an email from Right To Play asking me if I would like to go to Benin, West Africa, to visit some of the children for whom we had raised funds. I immediately said yes and, in June, headed over. I travelled with Athlete Ambassadors Heather Moyse and Caroline Ouellette and we visited a number of schools. The highlight for me was starting a kids running club. When I asked them what did they want to be called they said “The Undefeatables”.

After this trip, I realised that Marathon Quest 250 was the beginning, not the end. I established “Quests for Kids”, setting a new goal of completing 10 Quests in 5 years and raising $1M to help 20,000 kids. Quest one was Marathon Quest 250. Quest two, Netball Quest 61, took place in September. A group of us broke the Guinness World Record for the longest Netball game (pending verification). So far we’ve raised $341,600 and helped 6,820 children. Plans are well under way for Quests three, four and five in 2012 so stay tuned. I’m looking forward to sharing with you stories about running for yourself, running for others.