A man is currently running from near his hometown of Duncan, BC to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, to raise funds to help and save children’s lives.

Rick Fall, who now calls the Soo home, has raised close to $25,000 by the time he reached Merritt on Friday in his run titled ‘Home-to-Home’ – crossing a total of 4,200-kms. by the finish line.

The Herald spoke with Fall at his stop at Moon Shadows RV Park and Campground about his journey so far. He and his wife Collette stayed at the campground for the evening on April 22, returning to where he last left the pavement at Exit 276 on the Coquihalla later that same morning.

“It started off a few years ago when my wife and I started working with the local Terry Fox Run in Sault Ste. Marie,” said Fall. “A group of us, just sort of joking around, said we’d like to continue something like what Terry Fox did. And that stuck in the back of my mind, and after running a number of marathons, I figured I maybe could do it.”

His most recent feat of endurance, and toughest, began at Mile Zero of the Trans-Canada Highway on April 12,2021. There, a statue of Terry Fox stands across from Beacon Hill Park, a fitting scenario for the run to start.

Fall humbly said that while he is inspired by household-name Canadians like Rick Hanson, and Terry Fox, who ran from St. John’s, Newfoundland to northern Ontario, he does not wish to be compared to such Canadian icons and that this is his own personal journey.

Working in the school system as a teacher in Sault Ste. Marie, Fall knew that he wanted childhood cancer research, particularly Childhood Cancer Canada, to benefit from the journey.

“I saw a number of kids that had suffered from cancer, or needed help, in one way or another. So I thought, why not children’s cancer.”

Also benefiting from the cause is Make-A-Wish Canada. At the time he was deciding which foundations to go with, Fall was paid a visit from his sister from Duncan, who reminded Fall that her daughter had been granted a wish from Children’s Wish, which is now Make-A-Wish.

“So I thought, why not go with that as well. So the two foundations are working really well together, and we’re able to split the proceeds 50/50.”

Since April 12, Fall has been averaging about 42-kms. per day.

“Some a little more, some a little less,” said Fall. The day before the Herald spoke with the distance runner, he had hit the one-day 50-kms. mark.

That equals about 100 marathons, by the end.

As for actually completing the incredible feat, Fall’s thought process is “why not do it while I can?”

Originally scheduled for 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic delayed Fall’s plans for about a year.

The goal is to raise a total of $300,000.

To read his story, keep updated on his run with a live tracking map, and/or to make a donation to the cause, visit www.fallorick.com .