Running for fun and funds

Support the hospital and the runners next Sunday

Looking south off the Ranney Gorge Bridge.

I am a life-long runner. Some of my first memories are of winning races and ribbons at Sunday school picnics and in elementary school.

I think it may be genetic. My 3-year-old grandson always wants to race around the yard, the hallway, or the deck.

I’ve actually taken a few months off and done my exercise by biking and elliptical machining, but with spring here I have started back on the streets around town.

This is all to say that when I run the Ranney Gorge Run next Sunday I’ll be doing it for fun. Slowly, but for fun.

My physio says, with some surprise, that my body does better and has fewer aches when I run and it even improves my mood, so she says.

About 20 years ago I switched to a walk-run method that was initially five minutes running followed by a one-minute walk. Over the years the ratio has often changed. My latest run was about half walk.

But I know that I’ll make it to the end eventually and get to enjoy a short tour of Ferris Park. The run is a fundraiser for the Campbellford Memorial Hospital Foundation and you can support me by clicking on this link. I’ll report back after the run.

By the way, Trent Hills council is finally losing patience with the lack of action by the Ford government to support a new hospital here. The Premier and MPP David Piccini have said it is coming, but haven’t put any money where those words so.

So, council is drafting a mildly worded letter to point out the lack of action. There was a motion before council on Tuesday, but it was delayed until the next meeting to ensure our partners are on board.

---

Eight bucks and four bags

This was the container around noon on Sunday. More was probably added.

I mentioned the other day that I had cleaned up some litter along Burnbrae Road as part of the Mayors’ Clean Up Challenge, the county-wide litter pickup contest that ran from April 20 to Saturday, April.

I went back on Sunday morning to do another couple of hours. All told, I have collected four bags of garbage, which is largely Tim Hortons’ cups and plastic water bottles. I also collected a couple of bags of beer cans, which I returned to the Beer Store and received about $8.

The sad thing is that I got all this from a stretch of only about three kilometres.

I’m not sure how many kilometres got covered by litter pickers this week, but you can see from the large container in the Alma Street works yard that a lot of garbage has been removed from our ditches.

---

You can read all Trent Hills News stories anytime on the website.