Greater Sudbury- The Big Nickel!!....

Home of the Sudbury Wolves, Joe Bowen, Alex Trebek and Todd Bertuzzi.  Although I've lived in Ontario all my life, I had never been to Sudbury.  There is a lot of history in this town which started with the Canadian Pacific Railway developing a transportation route through the area, making it more feasible to extract the large nickel and ore deposits. A little known fact I learned is that, in 1939, Sudbury was first city in Canada to install parking metres. 

The Days Inn has been generous enough to accommodate the Run The Dream crew for three nights here in Sudbury as part of our Greater Sudbury Autism Awareness Campaign.  Big special thank you goes to Trish Kitching for co-ordinating the full day of events!

It kicked off yesterday morning with a run into the city towards Tom Davies Square (outside City Hall).  Terry and I had a large escort of runners from the Sudbury Rocks Running Club and many other keen participant.  Thirty runners for the 10 kms was our biggest runner turnout to date and was well appreciated!

Upon arrival to the festivities, at noon, Terry and I were greeted by France Gelinas, MPP Nickel Belt; Deputy Mayor Ron Dupuis and fellow City Councillors; Maxine King, Chair of Child Care Resources; and Minna Mettinen (thank you for the special framed gift).

As I opened the Sudbury Star this morning, Page A3, featured Greater Sudbury's local celebrity, 10-year old Matteo Raso who spoke at the noon hour event and told the large crowd, although he is autistic, he aspires to be the next Albert Einstein.  Who knows- maybe Matteo will discover a cheaper and cleaner source of energy someday!

I'd also like to thank some local service providers in Greater Sudbury for a Run The Dream 3,900 km tune up- Celeste Hutchings, at Allied Physio, and Nancy Pitre, at Helping Hands Message, for working out the kinks in my muscles and Norma for giving me my first haircut since St. John's, NL.

The Dream Continues...And Rolls On...West Again! 

Don't Hold Back....

"Tough times don't last but tough people do."

                        -A.C. Green

When it rains, it pours!  After Thursday's event, at Market Square, in Parry Sound, with speakers Norm Miller, MPP Parry Sound-Muskoka, Jo-Anne Demick, Executive Director of Community Living; and Maureen Porter, another parent who deals with the everyday realities of Autism, the clouds and the rain came quickly and did not let up until Saturday night.  Thanks to Eric Granz (former road crew member of New Brunswick and Quebec) for organizing the Parry Sound event and everyone who came out before the 36 hours of rain came!

Personally, heat and cold are fine to deal with, by either adding or subtracting layers, but rain (along with wind) is one of those weather elements which I have not found a water repellent shoe for yet.  Once the feet get wet, the water adds a few extra pounds, and the possibility of blisters occurring increases. Their is always a rational solution to every problem.  In this circumstance, Terry and I elected to sit out the rain and add the kilometres to next week.

A nice surprise on the road today was seeing a former teacher, Miss Pugh, from Tecumseh Public School.  So, as the sign shows, Terry and I have 123 kms to Sudbury, along Highway 69 then we get to turn left and head west to Sault Ste. Marie!

The Dream Continues...And Rolls On...To The Home of the Big Nickel!

Running Day 100......

Where does time go?

Rolled up sleeves, sunglasses and a camelback water pack on my back...100 Running Days ago, on March 25th, all these running accessories were at the bottom of my suitcase! It is hard to believe that yesterday was DAY 100!! For those wondering, the halfway mark is around the Sudbury area!
How was Running Day 100 spent? Well Terry and I run and rolled from Gravenhurst to about 20 kms north of Bala (along Hwy 69). Total distance- 51 kms. For the next couple days the Dobson family, from Mississauga, is hosting the road crew at their cottage. To celebrate Day 100, the Dobson family took everyone from the road crew for a boat ride on Lake Muskoka

Thanks to one of Run The Dream's sponsors, Complete Innovations, anyone can track Terry and I right across the country. While we stopped in the GTA, our Ford Escape escort vehicle, donated by KCC Leasing, in Toronto, was upgraded with a new GPS tracker, which people can log onto through the Run The Dream website, and follow along! The time delay is only 2 minutes! This feature helps us keep daily run statistics as well as keep the Run The Dream online community updated about where we are 24/7.

The Dream Continues and Rolls On....To Parry Sound

Newmarket, Bradford, Barrie and Orillia....

"Vision is the art of seeing invisible things."
-Jonathan Swift

The Dream is heading north!
Saturday morning, at the Bradford Lion Park, Nancy Morrison organized a community BBQ with special guests, MP Peter Van Loan, MPP Julia Munro and Mayor White of Bradford. It worked like clockwork with Terry and I running through that morning and then continuing onto Barrie! Thank you to all who came out for the lunchtime event!
As mentioned, Terry and I continued onto Barrie where the Kempenfest Art Festival was taking place. The Simcoe County Autism Chapter had a tent with a large group awaiting our arrival. Special thanks to Wade Beebe for organizing the arrival, as well as MP Patrick Brown, Councillor Andrew Price, and Darren and Amanda McNaulty for being a part of the run to Kempenfest.
This morning (Monday), Terry and I continued run and rolled from Barrie to Orillia (45kms). Tomorrow we'll be meeting with the Orillia Mayor Ron Stanton, MP Bruce Stanton. Thank you to Lori Larimer for organizing this!

The Dream Continues and Rolls On.....

John Tory, Damon Allen, Amanda Lang and Coldplay.....

While I've been running across the country, the Run The Dream Volunteer committee co-ordinates sending out letters and e-mails of invitation to politicians, business leaders, media organizations and other groups who might have an interest about what Run The Dream is doing in their community and/or province.
Yesterday, Terry and I had the privilege of a 30-minute meeting, at Queen's Park, with the Conservative Opposition Leader, John Tory. It was a very engaging and thought-provoking discussion about Autism Spectrum Disorders- an issue that has constantly garnered growing media attention. On behalf of Run The Dream, I'd like to thank Mr. Tory for taking time out of his busy schedule to discuss an issue that affects 1 in 165 children born and is a lifelong challenge for many families.

After that meeting, Amanda Lang, anchor of Taking Stock, on the Business News Network, invited me onto her show to talk about the run. Thank you Amanda for helping share the story of Run The Dream and Autism Spectrum Disorders with your viewers.
The evening was capped off with a Friends and Family Cruise, hosted by one of Run The Dream's sponsors, Mariposa Cruises (located in Toronto's Queen's Quay area), with future Hall of Fame Quarterback Damon Allen as our special guest. Damon holds the record for the most all-time passing yards by a quarterback in both the NFL and CFL. More than Warren Moon, Dan Marino, Brett Farve, Joe Montana or Troy Aikman. He is a great speaker and his 23 year pro football career accomplishments attribute to how hard work, dedication and preparation can culminate into success. Thank you Damon!
Thanks also to all my friends and family who came out and enjoyed Run The Dream's success to date. It was nice that the weather co-operated and that everyone could enjoy the view of the Toronto skyline. 5,000 more kms to go!



A lot people have been e-mailing me and asking what I did for my birthday. Although I did run in the morning of the 30th, I took the night off because my favourite band in the world just happened to be in Toronto- Coldplay! I leave you with an excerpt of their song "Fix You", from their X&Y album, that they performed that night.

The Dream Continues and Rolls On.....North!