Recap of Edmonton to Winnipeg
Hello from the geographical center of Canada, the beautiful, friendly city of WINNIPEG!
We were met yet again by an incredible group of people from the running community called “the Hash House Harriers: A drinking club with a running problem”. Perfect for our road weary feet and tired selves, to be welcomed in like old friends and escorted by way of a final 8km to complete our epic 7 day, 624km push from Regina to Winnipeg.
EDMONTON – CALGARY (ALBERTA)We must back waaay up though, and fill you in on all the miles, smiles, trials and the tribulations we’ve had since leaving Leduc, Alberta 3 ½ long weeks ago. Tony “The Donkey” Gozra came onboard with his unique crewing ability to text message while riding alongside Steph on the highway, and not get hit. Miles flew by in typical R41P fashion (slow and steady, no speed required) towards Calgary. A great and hilarious week was had by all with The Donkey on board. Thanks Tony!
Calgary saw another 2 successful events, with our main food sponsor, Planet Organic Market and lululemon (awarded the most eco-friendly store of all lululemon locations worldwide). Congrats everyone, thanks for running with us and for welcoming us into your Ambassador Family. The rest of our brief stint in Cow Town was spent with Steph’s cousin, Amanda, Doug, Nelson and Marley the dog. A fun night with Matt’s friends, Jody and Lori and their killer weiner dogs We stopped by GlobalTV for a fun early morning interview that literally ran us out of town.
CALGARY – MEDICINE HAT (ALBERTA)
Medicine Hat, Alberta brought a beautiful Angel into our lives with the name of Bonnie Doucette! Bonnie took it upon herself to organize, a big group Welcome Run into the Hat with the Mad Hatters Running Group, lunch with the City, two school events, a public speaking event at the college. The capper was or course the evening at The Garage Pub, watching the Stanley Cup final, with our newly formed gang, “The Hatters”. Since then, we’d like to announce that Bonnie has joined our Run For One Planet Team as Reconnaissance Manger. She will be reaching out to establish Community Leaders ahead of us along our route to create Run For One Planet Days. We love you Bonnie!
MEDICINE HAT – SWIFT CURRENT (SASKATCHEWAN)
Then came a very long, straight highway, with lots of open space, cows, horses, prairies dogs, more cows, horses, dead prairie dogs, and finally, Swift Current and another breakdown for our RV! The breakdown came at the end of a 60km day “bonk” in the rain for Matt (with Vanessa riding like she stole her bike to make him a protein shake and deliver a chocolate bar before he succumbed to asking for free food at KFC)! Thanks V.
Some new friends, Deana and Blake, gave us a jump, hooked us up with fresh water, a hot tub at their Swift Current house, delivered us to the Ford dealer for 2 hours of diagnosis while we presented at Swift Current Comprehensive High School. Ford found nothing wrong, so our “mystery starting issue” continues. Unfortunately, Ford’s warrenty doesn’t cover “mystery issues”…
SWIFT CURRENT – REGINA (SASKATECHEWAN)
Swift Current swiftly became a distant memory, as we slugged miles through head wind, more rain and our eventual 3 days in Saskatchewan’s capital, Regina! It felt more like March with all the driving rain, strong headwinds, and temperatures hovering in the single digits.
It wasn’t too hard to take though, as we were given a HUGE and most welcoming gift from our friends at 103.5 QMFM in Vancouver, of a 3 night stay at the Radisson Hotel Saskatchewan! Thanks you awesome folks on the morning show! We finally thawed by Day 3, and Vanessa enjoyed riding the elevators with the BC Lions Football Team.
REGINA – WINNIPEG (MANITOBA)
Matt’s running shoe saga continued, as his shipment from Montreal didn’t quite arrive in time for our Friday departure. They were delivering on Monday. Plan B: re-use Weeks 1 & 2 shoes which already had about 400 km’s each. And so it was that we set off on Friday, June 13th with a goal of running 624km’s in 7 days to make it to Winnipeg on time for our pre-scheduled media with CityTV, and events with Ecole Golden Gate Elementary School and Brooklands Elementary School.
Upon arriving in “The Peg”, 624 km’s of running in 7 days by two people and their amazing crew of one, absolutely solidified our team, taught us what we’re made of, stretched our fitness and recovery to a new level, and made us more committed on our mission to inspire Action for our Planet. Plus, it made Matt’s already chewed up feet even prettier to look at (check out the new photos in the Gallery).
WINNIPEG
And here were, on our very FIRST day off without anything official to do since starting our run around the continent almost 7 weeks ago. Why was Vanessa so adamant to spend time alone today?
We’d like to say thanks, with huge applause and gratefulness, to Kendra Delichte and her team of amazing people at Vita Health Fresh Market on Dakota Street, for organizing an awesome community event with us, lululemon, ClearFM, Winnipeg’s acting Mayor, and everyone else we shared the day with. Your belief in our cause, and the donation of 5% of the day’s total was, in a word, incredible. Even GlobalTV stopped by this morning and kept us in the family with an in-depth interview.
And so now, with rested bodies and toes, we say “Au Revoir et Merci Beaucoup” to Winnipeg, and to you… TAKE THE ACTION CHALLENGE!
Steph, Vanessa and Matt
I love the picture w/ this entry: Your Best Side, Guys.
Comment by Ashleigh, Ben, Noah & Tait — Friday, June 27, 2008 @ 3:11 pm