Running with a purpose

For those who don't know, Jim Finlayson, Mike Lord, and Rumon Carter have started a website called Three Roads to London. This site documents their training leading into the Flora London Marathon. For those who haven't visited the site, you really should. Not only is it aesthetically pleasing, but it is very well written and an interesting insight into the purpose behind running for three different, intriguing runners.

But further to that, they have melded their training with purpose. Read on to learn about what they are doing and how you can contribute....(from Rumon Carter)

The Flora London Marathon traces a single path through the streets of England’s capital. On April 22, 2007 Jim Finlayson, Michael Lord and Rumon Carter, along with 45 000 others, will race 26.2 miles through those historic streets.

The three lads will each race for different reasons. They’ll race the clock; they’ll race themselves. Perhaps most importantly, they’ll race to make a small difference for those less fortunate than themselves. They’ll race and harness their energy to raise money for Runners of Compassion’s Shoes for Youth program, a program that puts new shoes of the feet of marginalized and disadvantaged youth. So that those kids can know – as do each of the Three Roads to London crew – the simple freedom of a run in the woods, the wind in your face and sweat on your brow.

Because everyone – every kid – should have the means to run their own road.

To learn more about Jim, Michael and Rumon’s Three Roads to London project, please visit http://threeroadstolondon.com.

To donate to their Shoes for Youth initiative, please visit http://threeroads.givemeaning.com. (In fact, even if you don’t wish to or aren’t in a position to make a tax-deductible donation, please visit their Give Meaning site and show your support by simply clicking the VOTE button in the upper left of the page – you’ll be asked for your name and email address, but will be neither contacted nor committed to making a donation – you’ll be simply expressing a vote of support for what the Three Roads lads are doing.)

If you’re interested in Runners of Compassion (ROC) or Shoes for Youth more generally, check out http://www.runnersofcompassion.com/site/. If you like what you see, please consider harnessing the positive energy of runners in your own community and creating an ROC chapter in your home town (chapters already exist in Victoria, Nanaimo and Winnipeg) – all the necessary information is on the ROC site.