COLLETTE'S WALK: PART TWO

She did it! Two days, 60 K, and she is back home in surprisingly good spirits. More rain today, sometimes coming down quite hard but Collette, Billie and Thelma all made it through. Collette got up before dawn this morning (and I mean before the dawn of time, it was that early) and went back up to Downsview Parc where Billie and Thelma had spent the night in tent city.

The setup in the Parc was pretty amazing, including full food setups, massages, stretching booths, and a huge party last night. The organization of the entire race was pretty impressive, with lots of stations along the way providing food and drink, the girls really didn't need to take anything with them.

I was only able to go to one Cheering Station today but I decided to completely cheese out and get Miss Hayley involved.

The above picture is how you humiliate a border collie in one easy lesson. But she was quite the hit at the cheering station. As the walkers went by I would say "Hayley, cheer" or "Hayley, say thank you" and she would bark. The secret was this little hand signal we have for barking that I can disguise pretty well so people don't even notice it.

As always, there was a lot of community support and a dizzying display of walkers' self-expression.

Collette had no idea that was I going to be at this cheering station, let alone have Miss Hayley with me, let alone have her dressed up ... well, sort of. Miss Hayley is vocal, that is why it is easy to get her to "talk". But generally her bark is not the high pitched yelp of most border collies, it is a fairly deep, definite bark .. expect when a member of her pack is there to be greeted. Her pack consists of Collette and myself and some very special people who have been in her life like Billie, our nephew Jeff who lives in our basement, his parents Dennis and Kay, some of the regulars from our dog park. When Hayley saw Collette she did a little wiggle dance and put on a crying display that had all the female walkers saying "Awwwwwwwwww!!"


So the ladies continued on and the weather turned pretty bad, with some very cold rain coming down. Collette had packed some longer pants but Billie had only her shorts and t shirt. Luckily, Collette had also thought to bring some rain ponchos ... what a good aunt eh?



So the five thousand walkers wended their way through the rainy city down to Exhibition Place where the whole thing had started Saturday morning. Collette told me that the entrance to the hall was handled beautifully: First the walkers who were cancer survivors, then the event staff then all the walkers who had managed to finish the event. Collette told me she had, for a time, walked with a woman who was doing the walk for the second time ... she is 95. And she finished.

Here are the weekend warriors, still smiling after this amazing achievement, to say that I am proud of all them is a total understatement, especially my lovely wife, who set out to do something that she had never done before .. and did it well.

The final total of money raised by the 5,000 walkers is reported to be 13 million dollars.

So I cut a little video. All of the footage is from Day One.

Walk For The Cure from Victor Kellar on Vimeo.

COLLETTE'S WALK: PART ONE

This was it, the first day of Collette's 60 K two day walk to raise money for breast cancer research at Princess Margaret Hospital. Collette is walking with our niece Billie-Marie and her friend Thelma. Billie stayed at the house with us last night and she and Collette were off very early this morning. Or someone claims it was morning. It was still dark out. Apparently I was awake. I think I took this picture .... is it in focus or were eyes just blurry?

The Weekend Warriors then made their way down to Exhibition Place to meet up with thousands of other walkers who would make their way some 35 Klicks up to Downsview Parc in North York.

Here are Billie and Thelma cued up at the Ex, way too perky for that time of day.

The girls started out walking in some fairly serious rain, but that soon gave way to sunny skies and pretty workable temp in the low 20's. The spirit of the event, considering its very serious nature, had a great atmosphere; as I stood at one of the "cheering stations" waiting for the girls to come by, I was treated to what you could only describe as a "variety" of walkers.

I really don't know what to say about this last photo ... I am just your intrepid reporter.

The walk .. tremendously well organized ... had set up cheering sites along the way. These were very well supported by the local neighbourhoods. Collette said that people came out to cheer them all along the route, often coming out with fruit and liquids. In the Weston area, a man brought out homemade zucchini bread. Someone was also handing out beer. I always knew I liked Weston.

Here are the Weekend Warriors at the second cheering station, roughly halfway through the walk .. they've just done over 15 klicks, why on earth are they smiling? Athletes .. they are just weird .. but there was free beer, maybe that was it.

At the Weston cheering station, I hooked up with Debbie. Debbie is Collette's co-worker and one of the people who helped us out so much with our two garage sales.

The support here was great. They had vans driving around that could pick up an exhausted walker and take them to the next "station" no questions asked. This is not a race. It is a fund raising effort. It is a community bonding to fight a common enemy. There were athletes on the walk of course (Billie and Thelma both run half marathons) but there were also just "average" people attempting something extraordinary to help prevent something evil.

Here are the Warriors with Debbie at the Weston cheering station ... you know the real reason I am never in these pictures? I've been up since 6 am. Don't believe for a second that I am smiling.

This was the last cheering station I went to before the girls made it to Downsview Parc. So, 35 klicks, 10 hours, Collette alone raising just over two thousand dollars to the cause. We can't thank enough all those who donated money, who donated items to sell at the garage sale, who gave us their support. That's what kept Collette going, I'm sure.

Billie-Marie decided to camp out at Downsview. Collette (wisely) chose to come back home before tackling another 25 K or so tomorrow. Of course I took video but I will wait till tomorrow is over before cutting it. I'll be going down to the Ex to see the girls bring it home, to cheer them on and, no doubt, capture some smiling images .... maybe even I will crack a grin.

INSPIRATION PART ONE

Where does inspiration come from?

A couple of recent events have me pondering this question. Event One: Collette has agreed to do a charity walk to benefit breast cancer research. The walk is in September and it is over a two day time period. Event Two: The Greg Awards at St Lawrence College are underway this weekend and I have once again been asked to judge and to present.

Collette has undertaken her crusade to honour the people in our family who are breast cancers survivors. Her sister in law, Nancy, and my sister in law, Eartha, have both come out the other side of the rabbit hole from this terrible disease. It seems just about anyone of a certain age has had some kind of contact with cancer and this particular form of it. Collette was also inspired by her niece Billie-Marie, who has done the walk before and elicited her support.

These strong women, I think, are a source of inspiration for Collette. She has one of the biggest hearts of any human I know, and a powerful urge to help; its why she is so good working with the troubled kids in this world.

Now, this walk is 60 klicks. Over two days. With my physical limitations I could never imagine doing something like that. My one and only experience walking and playing a golf course put me out of commission for two days. Yet here is Collette, someone who is not an athlete (but look how damn cute she it) throwing herself into a training regimen with discipline and alacrity. That inspires me. I know it is inspiring to other people. Collette is shocked by such a reaction; it is her who has been inspired, how could she inspire any one else?

I am thinking that the women who inspired Collette, our sister in laws, may also be surprised that they are a source of inspiration. What they did, in beating this disease probably was just survival. We see it as a fight, a terrible, unfair, one sided fight that they won, thru grit and determination. Inspiration indeed.

That brings us to the Greg Awards. This is the annual video competition for the students of the Advertising and Marketing Program at St Lawrence College in Kingston, Ontario. Twenty five years ago, I entered that program with all intentions of being a copywriter; without any ego (shut up, I can so not have an ego .. well, for a moment, anyway) I know that I could have achieved this goal. But I met a guy name Tom Harpell, saw my first 3/4" Sony U-Matic edit suite and was fucked for life. Tom inspired me, and does so to this day.

So every year I return to the college to participate in the ceremony and lend my expertise as a judge. (I have to go, they named the editing award after me) Every year I am inspired by what these student, many of them young enough to be my children (oooooh scary thought, VJ's spawn) manage to accomplish with no funds, little time and restricted equipment. They inspire me, they give me a shot of energy. Would they be surprised that some wet behind the ears student could inspire a professional with more than two decades experience?

Probably no more surprised that I am, when some student lets me know that I inspire them. Usually none of them have even seen any of my work. It is the fact that I started where they are, and have come this far, that inspires them, that motivates.

Collette was inspired by the courage of Nancy and Eartha. I am inspired by Collette's dedication and discipline. The students of the Greg Awards are inspired by professional journey. And I am inspired by their excitement, and their ability to see the future as something they can change.

Ah, there we are. That's the inspiration. Changing the future. Nancy and Eartha were thrust into a situation that had a pre determined outcome. They changed it. Collette sees an outcome she wants to come to pass so she is changing her routine and body to achieve it. The St Lawrence students are dedicated to a future that is really only a vision to them.

And me? I'm going to chronicle Collette's journey, I'm going to aid my expertise to the Greg Awards and I am not going to question where it is that inspiration comes from. I'm just going to take it, and carry it with me into the future.