Woohoo!

Arriving on Parliament Hill yesterday was a personal highlight that held a fair degree of significance.  Once I hit the Canal, memories flooded back of the races I’ve done in Ottawa over the years.  My friend Laura joined me for a bit and then I met up with my best friend Dave.  We had a moment at the drill hall just south of Laurier, where we both did Changing of the Guard.  That march up to Parliament Hill for 3 summers was a fun job!  And regardless of political views, the Hill is an impressive sight.  I remember being proud to be Canadian as I marched with the band, playing my trombone in the front row.  Standing on the grass playing Oh Canada for thousands of tourists every day – there was pride in that.  So as I turned left on Laurier, right on Elgin and then left onto Wellington coming up on the Hill, I felt that sense of pride again to be Canadian.  I feel extremely privileged to live in such an amazing country!

As I ran up onto the Hill, Diana and Nicole, 2 public Health nurses who I had spent some time with earlier in the week were generous enough to make the drive with their respective kids to meet me on the Hill.  I was greeted with a great banner and the kids having fun playing on the grass.  The kids had some amazing homemade shirts saying ‘Take Me Outside’ and ‘Run Colin Run’.  Some other friends came out to say hi as well and although we had hoped for some media to show up from the press release we had sent out, it was still perfect just the way it was!

Today, I ran in the rain all day and loved every second of it!  My legs are having a bit of a tough time getting back into things after a week of not running, but today felt better than yesterday and hopefully tomorrow is better than today.

I’ve had such a great week in Ottawa.  Connecting with people I’ve been chatting with for months but had never met, reconnecting with friends I haven’t seen in awhile, and best of all, having such an incredible week with the students!  I feel pretty fortunate to be doing what I’m doing!