“It’s the job of parents to sometimes embarrass their kids”.

This is the line my dad uttered an hour ago in a restaurant just west of the Manitoba border.  It wasn’t uttered sitting at the table with me… no… it was uttered out loud in front of the whole restaurant.

Just a little bit windy today!

Today  was a special day.  I have spent a long time in Ontario – over 4 months  now.  Granted, that wasn’t all running time.  Weeks were spent in  Ottawa, Peterborough, Toronto and Haliburton along with other  communities as we chatted with about 35 schools.  But with my route, I  have run approximately 2500 km through Ontario to get to the border  today.  That’s about a third of the whole run!  And it was almost as if  Ontario didn’t want to let me out… I faced one of the stronger headwinds  today, as you can tell by my hair!  So reaching the Manitoba border  today felt great!  Today also marked 7 months to the day that I started  running from Signal Hill in St. John’s.  It’s been a long 7 months  filled with many adventures.  Many adventures along with 65 schools and  over 17,000 students who I’ve chatted with.  On top of that, I passed  the 5000 km mark the other day and my legs are feeling strong and  healthy.  I have been able to up my distance to average about 50 km/day,  which has surprised me.  But my legs are “in the zone”.

I  find it difficult to voice some of these personal achievements.  I like  writing about other things.  But part of this project – this run across  the country to raise awareness and attempt to inspire people to spend  more time outside stemmed from a personal dream.  A personal dream that  I’ve held for a long time.  So when my dad stands in front of a crowded  restaurant unexpectedly and my face turns scarlet as people applaud  those achievements, I feel a bit out of place.  But a quiet father who  publicly voices how proud he is of his son – it’s hard to find a better  feeling in the world than that!