B.C. hero Rick Hansen launches new cross-Canada relay

It has been exactly 25 years since Rick Hansen began travelling across Canada as part of the Man in Motion World Tour to raise funds for spinal cord injury research.

Today (August 24), the celebrated B.C. native marked the occasion with the launch of the Rick Hansen 25th Anniversary Relay.

“This is the start of a new journey, where together, we channel our energy with the same drive and determination that fuelled the original Tour to realize a cure for paralysis after spinal cord injury, and create healthier and more accessible communities across the country,” Hansen said in a statement.

Starting near St. John’s, N.L., the 12,000-kilometre relay covers the same route Hansen travelled in the mid-1980s, ending in Vancouver on May 22, 2012.

Organizers say 7,000 people will participate in the relay, passing a special Rick Hansen medal as they walk, run, and roll their way from coast to coast.

Hansen’s original Man in Motion World Tour started in March 1985 and covered 40,000 kilometres through 34 countries.