Homeless in Vancouver: Epic cross-Canada run ends in Vancouver

Yesterday afternoon (February 3) I was stopped with the rest of traffic at the intersection of Broadway and Cambie Street and watched as a fellow triumphantly strode down the middle of the northbound lane. He was preceded by a phalanx of Vancouver police officers on motorcycles and trailed by a gaggle of happy hangers-on apparently celebrating his achievement.

He obviously wasn’t Jamie McDonald, the fellow from Gloucester, England, who the same day finished an epic 275-day, 5000-kilometre, coast-to-coast fundraising run across Canada in Vancouver. But he was part of the McDonald entourage.

The fellow I saw was sporting a sponsor’s logo on his striped jersey: a British building materials company called Jewson. He was followed by one of McDonald’s more colourfully-costumed supporters.

Jamie McDonald’s run is estimated to have raised over $200,000 for Canadian and British hospitals, including SickKids Foundation, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, and the Pied Piper Appeal.

The 27-year-old is believed the first Brit to run across Canada and, according to BBC News, is the first person to complete the journey without support. He even slept “rough” along the way, like a camper or a homeless person.

McDonald began his cross-Canada run in St. John’s, Newfound and Labradour, on March 9, 2013. He ran most of the distance dressed as the comic book superhero The Flash.

Along the way, he suffered several injuries, in the Rockies faced temperatures as cold as -40 degree Celsius, and, most seriously of all, was beaten and robbed on New Year’s Day in Banff.

But McDonald’s determination to finish the run apparently never wavered. He was continually buoyed by a wave of support from his home city of Gloucester, and from Canadians he met along his journey.

McDonald has explained that the inspiration for his fundraising run came from a desire to show gratitude for the care he received as a child when he suffered from a debilitating immunodeficiency disorder and rare spinal condition called syringomyelia.

He is expected to be in Vancouver until next week, when he will return to the U.K., where his home town is planning to honour his achievement with a homecoming ceremony.