Trevor Redmond has spent close to a year running across Canada on his Run for Courage, and he’s currently gearing up for the western leg of his long journey at a hotel in Sault Ste. Marie.
With over 6,000 kilometres now behind him, the Halifax man will soon set out towards Thunder Bay for the long stretch of road he says will be the “ultimate test”.
“I'm out here promoting exercising the mind, the body, the spirit — nothing more in terrain on that Trans-Canada will test you more than between here, and even beyond Thunder Bay, until you get to Dryden,” he said. “It's going to be a daily extreme test of your resilience.”
Also known as ‘The Fellow in Yellow,’ Redmond is raising funds for the Dollar a Day Foundation, which supports mental health programs across Canada — a cause he can relate with personally after suffering a bad injury that left him with a limp in his youth.
“When I was 15, I got struck by a car, so there's the physical aspect of an injury, but there's also that emotional side of it as well,” Redmond said. “It really does need to be a combination. When I talk about exercising the mind, the body, the spirit, they all work together.”
Redmond, who’s in his early 50s, has a lot of work ahead of him.
With nothing but the contents of his cart, this week he’ll continue west through cold March weather along one of the more isolated stretches of the Trans-Canada Highway.
Though he stays in hotels or homes of supporters when he can, he expects he’ll be setting up a tent along the highway once he leaves town.
“It's probably going to be in a tent, down along the highway somewhere,” he said.
With merino wool clothing, a -30 sleeping bag, and handwarmers — which are used to keep electronics functional, not him — Redmond did not seem too concerned about the potential cold weather ahead.
All weather conditions provide their benefits and drawbacks, he said.
“Every single day I'm out, there is a challenge, and where you think on one side this is bad, there's also some good sides to it, and vice versa,” he said. “In the summer, you can only take off so much clothes. In the winter, you can put on more.”
Luckily, Redmond has quite a bit of experience.
He previously walked across Canada in 2007, and biked across Canada in 2009, during which he raised $32,000 for cancer research at Toronto’s Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.
“My motto is, the more we move, the more we move others,” Redmond said. “That's what's inspiring to me — that I'm able to move this far, not just by myself, but with others and the support of others.”
Supporters can donate to Redmond through his website and GoFundMe.
–with files from Darren Taylor