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FIVE MEN, 400 kilometres and 12 days added up to $40,000. That’s how much has been raised for some much needed new water wells in Africa
through an event called the Desert Run. The run was also a tribute to the late
Arno Ekkert.
The Desert Run team started off on the last day of August in Osoyoos, and
finished in Richmond on September 11.
“And what a finish it was,” said Mathias Fast. “We crossed the finish line to the sound of ‘Fix You’ by Coldplay, exactly the way Arno and I had imagined it.” Fast and his friend Arno had first come up with the idea of the run two years
ago. But Arno was tragically killed in a car accident.
However, Fast – along with Arno’s brother Conroy, and Phil Seel, Tim Walton and Johnny Friesen – decided to carry out the run for a good cause, and as a tribute to Arno. The
goal was to raise $50,000 for Lifewater Canada.
Along the route from Osoyoos through Manning Park to the coast, the runners weathered heat, blisters, impatient drivers, achy legs, rain and other challenges. Still,
for the most part it was a good experience.
“We had quite a few people come up and run with us on various days,” noted Fast, “which was a big help and broke up some of the monotony of six hours of running.
All of us runners are tired and sore – but ecstatic that we were all able to finish. There were plenty of tough days
and the grind of getting up at 5 am to run 35 kilometres.” Fast added: “It was only possible by the grace of God.”
The men wrote on their Desert Run website while on the road – sometimes lightheartedly, other times poignantly.
One blog excerpt extolled the benefits of exercise: “The aches and pains are becoming more numerous, and it’s kind of like the wheel of fortune. Spin the wheel and see which body part will
hurt today. We have stooped to the point of using horse medicine to soothe our
ailments. Alas, we still see ourselves using canes much earlier in life than
expected.”
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Ekkert wrote: “If you can win the battle over your mind, you can do almost anything. I have
discovered how amazing God made the body, and how much it can actually do.”
The Desert Run finished in a spirited way, as described in one of Tim Walton’s final blogs: “As we ran past our old stomping grounds (Richmond Christian School), we were
greeted by 500-plus students and staff holding signs and screaming
encouragement. Hands that were once sweaty were quickly dried from high-fiving
tons of kids; and legs that were sore seconds before suddenly felt like a
million bucks. There was even a band playing for us!”
The Desert Runners thank everyone for their support, and hope to have a similar
run next year. Info: thedesertrun.com
– Andrea Dujardin-Flexhaug
October 2009
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