LSPS, Tagwi Team Run to Say “Thank You” to Canadian Armed Forces and First Responders
November 11, 2022 (Long Sault, ON) – This past weekend, a group of runners, walkers and bikers joined together to complete 105 kilometres to honour veterans, military personnel and first responders.
The HonouRun, organized by Longue Sault Public School (LSPS) teacher Ian Callan, was a two-day, 105-kilometres trek through the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry (SD&G) townships. The Nov. 5 leg was 57km from Alexandria to Cornwall and the Nov. 6 leg was 48km from Morrisburg to Cornwall.
“I put a name to an act of remembrance,” explains Callan, who started the annual event in 2019. “But it was really an evolving contribution of ideas and input from those around me. When ‘thank you’ isn’t enough, we HonouRun.”
The HonouRun has looked slightly different each year, starting as a 2-weekend, 158 kilometre run in the SD&G, Trenton and Kingston areas. The 158 kilometres represents the number of soldiers that did not make it home from Afghanistan.
This year’s run included pre-planned stops along the way at cenotaphs, fire halls, EMS and police stations for the group to honour veterans and first responders with cards and artwork created by LSPS, Rothwell-Osnabruck School and Williamstown Public School students.
One of the main stops on Sunday, Nov. 6 was the Ingleside Remembrance Day ceremony, which the group was personally invited to. And this is where LSPS Grade 5 student Jack Daye joined in, completing a total of 26 kilometres.
Callan and Daye had been training together leading up to the event, completing both 10- and 12-kilometre runs. “The HonorRun was my longest run,” explains Daye, who experienced a foot injury at around his 13-kilometre mark. “I pushed myself to finish the run.”
LSPS classmate and Grade 5 student Katie Paquette decided to join the group on Saturday and surpassed her personal goal of running 10 kilometres and completed a total 17 kilometres of the trek. “It was my personal best run. I had only run five kilometres before,” she said.
Grade 9 Tagwi Secondary School and former LSPS student Marc Labossiere also joined the group for his second HonouRun, completing a combined two-day total of 80 kilometres.
With no previous long-distance running training, the determined Labossiere ran the first seven kilometres with a ruck sack on his back and overcame some setbacks along the way. “I came in with the mindset that veterans pushed themselves to their limits and I wanted to do the same,” he explained.
Matthew Antione, Grade 11 Tagwi student and former LSPS student, surprised the group and met up with them on Saturday, and biked and walked with the team for 20 kilometres.
“It was extra special to have the students join along, each with their own personal challenge and goal,” says Callan. “I am so proud of the perseverance, kindness and generosity they have shown to honour and remember our heroes.”
Callan, too, accomplished a personal goal. He ran all of the 105 kilometres and carried a 40-pound ruck sack on the first day of the run. This is the third HonouRun that he has organized and participated in.
With funds still coming in, all money raised is being donated to To the Stan and Back, an organization that supports serving and retired members of the Canadian Armed Forces and front-line responders with post combat wellness programs. It’s estimated that approximately $3,000 will be donated to the organization from this year’s event.