Typically this time of year, Jamie McDonald would be among family, sitting down to enjoy a traditional English roast dinner.
But this year, instead of taking a seat around his family’s dinner table, he’s experiencing the warm hospitality of western Canadians. And he’ll be running through Alberta’s foothills heading into the Rocky Mountains — nearing the end of his coast-to-coast journey.
For the past eight months, McDonald has been running across Canada. Starting in St. John’s, N.L., the Brit has been logging miles that are expected to stretch to Vancouver, B.C.
“The momentum of this journey has been unexpected,” said McDonald, who arrived in Calgary Dec. 19. “It’s become way bigger than me.
The motivation behind this adventure: supporting children’s hospitals. Two United Kingdom-based kids’ hospitals, and a number of children’s hospitals across Canada. McDonald himself spent most of the first nine years of his life in a children’s hospital.
This next stretch of the trek won’t be an easy one, admitted the Brit. The road conditions through the Rocky Mountains aren’t meant for unassisted running, he explained, not to mention the challenge of avalanche season, cold-weather camping and a chronic case of tendonitis.
Donations are being collected for McDonald’s fundraiser at a variety of businesses in Cochrane. Money can be dropped off at the Amaryllis Centre for Healing and the Amaryllis Yoga Studio, Grand Avenue Pharmacy and CCI Solutions. The deadline for donations has been extended until Dec. 31.
To learn more about McDonald’s fundraising adventure, visit jamiemcdonald.org.
