Running to Parliament

Running to Parliament by temporallobe at Garmin Connect - Details


Running to Parliament

July-07-11
8:35 PM

• Today's weather: 20 Celsius 68 (f) and Humidity about 53. 
• Run distance today: 15.74 km (9.78 miles)
• Total distance to date: 2680 km (1665.27 miles)
• Song of the day: the natural sounds of our country's capital.


I ran for 10 kl then stopped as we were a little ahead of schedule. So we drove back to the RV and moved it to Hither Hills Campground. 


We then drove back to where we stopped and I got to meet up with the Brain Injury Association of Ottawa. Some of their members ran with me to Parliament Hill where we were greeted by Yasir Naqvi MPP of Ottawa Centre, and Royal Gatineau the MPP of Orleans (where we were yesterday) joined us a little later on. 

We did a photo op at the Centennial Flame, and I had an interview with Dennis from CBC and Joe from Metro news.

It was an incredibly over stimulating day. We finished up and the time went by so fast. There were so many great people that I met, and while I enjoy talking to people about brain injury and spreading the word about prevention it's also nice to be around people who can relate. It's just an unspoken awareness of "I know what you have been through and I understand the challenges."

Mandy and I spent the rest of the day doing some tourist stuff around out country's capital, while Melissa met up with some family. Running across Canada without missing a single step from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean is a monumental task, but it was nice to have a shorter run day and enjoy our country's capital for the afternoon. 

Near the end of our day, completely unexpected there were six formally dressed soldiers being lead by a soldier in a kilt playing a bagpipe at the National War Memorial. This is a nightly procession that is done to honour Canadian soldiers past/present/future. I stood by the grave of the Unknown Soldier and I was suddenly overcome by emotions. It was quite an unexpected reaction. It was very moving to see. 

I sometimes can't believe that I am here. Today just seemed so surreal. I mean I am just a guy from a small town that had a brain injury.