Have we got a feel-good story for you today, Victoria!
On May 18th, James Newman from Oakville, Ontario began an ambitious run across Canada. He has named the endeavour James Runs Canada.
Starting out in St John’s, Newfoundland, Newman aims to run from coast to coast in under 100 days and finish his journey right here in Victoria. The two Mile Zero monuments, one in St John’s and the other on our very own Dallas Road, will serve the start and end points.
The entire journey spans around 75,000 kilometres. James hopes to run just over 75 kilometres a day, which is equivalent to around two marathons.
The young man took on the challenge in an effort to raise money to fund scholarships for youth displaced during childhood.
The organization he’s running for is the Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada.
“This cause means a lot to me,” Newman said in an Instagram post.
“I want to raise $250,000 for kids who, just like me, have lost their parents in childhood. This money is going to go to the Children’s Aid Foundation, who create renewable scholarships for those in need towards university.”
He is currently on day two, and has run 160 kilometres already. He has raised almost $65,000 for the organization so far, and the donations keep pouring in.
Every day, James gives updates on his journey on Instagram, as well as interesting things he’s seen while running, some of his thoughts on the day, a song of the day and an inspirational quote to keep him (and all of us) inspired to do a little bit of good in our community.
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The run is inspired by Canadian hero Terry Fox, who ran 5,373 kilometres during his Marathon of Hope to raise money for cancer research.
Fox’s name is a household one in Canada, and his legacy lives on today. He raised $24.17 million during his run, and has raised over $1 billion for cancer research in total through annual Terry Fox Runs and the Terry Fox Foundation.
You can track James’ progress on his website online. The website also lets you leave a donation and a note to James as he works his way across the country.
If you would like to support James in his journey, you can donate to the cause here and leave him a message of encouragement!
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