All welcome to try Running Challenge

All welcome to try Running Challenge

Jeannette Boudreau's been buried for about a month now, and that's just the way she likes it. Her website, My Time-A Great Canadian Running Challenge (www.agreatcanadianrunningchallenge.ca) — an online kilometre tracker for runners, walkers, snowshoers and hikers — is on fire. The website has grown from less than 100 participants in 2018 to a 2021 contingent of 2,800 and counting, with over 6,000 followers on Facebook.

Boudreau recently mailed off 500 medals, packaged up swag available and dealt with January's deluge of returnees and first-timers looking to challenge themselves while reaping the benefits of exercise and commitment.

"With COVID and the shutdowns and lockdowns people need something to do. It's amazing. This is something they're clinging on to get healthy and stay alive, you know?" said the Sudbury native. "I love that. That was my goal. I love motivating people. It's such a passion of mine to hear someone say 'You changed my life. I would have never made it.' I get a lot of e-mails thanking me for doing this.

"Sometimes I have so much work I say 'What am I doing?' I work all day as a teacher and then I get home at three or four to attend to my second job."

There are four leaderboards for the Great Canadian Running Challenge: 500K, 1,000K, 2,021K and Elite. Participants sign up to do their chosen number of kilometers over the year from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2021. If you reach your level early you automatically slide into the next category. After the joining process a person enters their daily kilometres and sees their totals update and their ranking change in their chosen category. A handful of athletes logged over 5,000 kilometres in 2020. The 1,000K category is the most popular.

Boudreau crested 1,000K herself in 2020, a goal that took her five years of trying to finally pull off. The 50-year-old mother of three wants to enter a marathon in Niagara Falls, N.Y., in October if all goes to plan.

Boudreau was a youngster when her hero started his trek across Canada.

"I really wanted to be a part of Terry Fox. To me he's such a hero because of his fight," Boudreau said.

Proceeds from the medals and apparel available on her website go towards the Terry Fox Foundation.

"(Fox) would go running and his leg is bleeding. He fought for what he believed in. I want to support that part of him and I want to keep it alive. My mom had cancer, it's everywhere. Let's keep going. The Marathon of Hope in his honour. I want to keep it going," she added.

It costs nothing to join. Participants can purchase medals commemorating their achievements and buy T-shirts and sweatshirts with the club's logo. Check out the website for FAQ, athlete profiles, the all-important leaderboards, and whole dose of motivation.

"I feel really good about this. I hope the best for everybody" enthused Boudreau. "I just want everyone to be happy, healthy. I love bringing everybody together in this challenge. It's a dream come true. It's just a big passion of mine and I want to keep it going."