Rickson Ridge teacher Brandon Rees was delivering an important lesson on Thursday outside his classroom and away from his students.
Rees was circling the school property over 70 times, running a marathon distance as part of the school’s Terry Fox Day activities.
“I’ve never run a marathon in my life. Lots of half-marathons, but this is my marathon debut,” said Rees, pausing during his 42.2-kilometre run that started around 9:30 a.m.
Students would be joining him later as they went on their Terry Fox walk.
“I figured if I could help get kids motivated to run, it would be great,” Rees said of why he chose to do a marathon.
The school had a guest speaker earlier in the week, a student who had beaten the same cancer that claimed Terry Fox’s life.
Rees said her message struck home.
“Her big message was that she can’t run, but if she could she would. It’s that encouragement to all of us to use the ability you’ve got to try and make any different you can,” Rees said.
“I think everybody in our school has been touched by cancer and I think we do a great job of raising money, but sometimes we forget that it’s the Terry Fox run. If we can motivate the kids to push themselves a little bit more, then maybe they’re able to push themselves in more than one area.”
Rees has long been an admirer of the Canadian icon, a point driven home by the tattoo on his left calf showing Fox running on his Marathon of Hope.
“I was aware of him to some extent as a kid, but I became much more aware of him when I became a runner and realized how incredibly demanding it is, even with two healthy legs and with all the technology we have now.
“For him to have done a marathon every day, with 30-year-old technology … it’s mind boggling what he could. It’s beyond inspiring. It’s a whole other level of perseverance,” Rees said.
“It’s hard not to be inspired by it.”
Teachers sponsored Rees per kilometre on his Thursday run, but he said the school has always had a strong fundraising drive. This was about more than that.
“The money part takes care of itself a lot of years because the kids are really good at that. I thought I’d try and do the next part and embrace the physical activity part of it.”
