Day 114 August 28, 2011 Virden to Saskatchewan Border 61km – Guest Blog

Guest blog by Christopher Daum

Today’s wake up was an early one for me. Riley decided to hit the snooze button a half dozen times, which was okay with me. The morning felt cold and I needed to put on some layers. I was introduced to the morning routine for Riley and Mike and the day brought many lessons in how life in a motorhome is properly carried out.

Mike gave me the go-ahead to start the day running with Riley and I had no idea how far I could expect myself to run. Riley carries a nice, steady pace and being able to talk with him as we ran allowed me to take my mind off of how my legs began to feel as the morning carried on. We found many things to keep ourselves distracted such as guessing the type of road kill that was coming up and trying to determine the function of various pieces of farm equipment.

I’ve been keeping track of Riley’s progress from back home in Vancouver and I have to say it’s incredible to now be here and be able to witness the size and scope of Riley and Mike’s venture first hand. Just thinking about how I felt after only running a third of Riley’s route has me in total disbelief at what he is able to accomplish on a daily basis and it has been amazing to see how Mike supports Riley every step of the way. He’s like a one-man pit crew and he knows exactly what Riley needs to keep going. I’ve been trying to take notes of just exactly what he does so that I can relieve him of his duties and he can have some time to run with Riley. I don’t think I’ll have it down to the fine science that he does within the week that I have with these two.

Today I found it remarkable to witness the many different ways that people offer their support for Step Into Action. As we passed through Virden, a high-school physical education instructor named John caught up with Riley and spent some time running with him. We had a great experience stopping at the Saskatchewan / Manitoba border and meeting a couple from Quebec who were driving a motorhome (that we admired) that was a support vehicle for the Iris Challenge to Defeat Cancer (to learn more about it, check out: http://iris.ca/challenge/Home.html). We met another couple named Cam and Carolyn from Parry Sound, Ontario who mentioned that they had seen the news clip about Step into Action on The National. Both couples made a personal generous donation, which were greatly appreciated.

Within the short period of time that I have been with these two I have been touched by how frequently they have been approached by people who mention how they have been affected by prostate cancer. Some talk about how they have lost someone to it, others mention that they know someone who has been diagnosed, while others mention they have battled it or are currently battling it. I know that meeting these people is certainly motivating for these guys and brings them face-to-face with the people they are looking to support. I greatly admire their efforts and I’m looking forward to the rest of the week with Step Into Action.