Visitor Marlene Doherty introduced our guest speaker, Martin Parnell. In addition to being a superlative marathoner, he is a member of the Cochrane Rotary Club.

His employment was that of mining engineer and he worked/lived in Yellowknife, Sudbury, and Kimberley.

He first ran a marathon in 2002, at age 40, when challenged by his brother, and it was a few years later that he moved to Cochrane and took a four-month trip to Africa travelling from Cairo through Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya to South Africa. It was while running and biking in Africa that he encountered children who needed food, medical attention and food for their spirit, and he joined the Right to Play Program.

The Right to Play organization is much more than "play", as it addresses sportsmanship, conflict resolution and play-based learning.

In 2009, Martin conducted a fund raiser for "Right to Play" and arranged an "Ultra Marathon" which consisted of a 35-hour run. Following that, he decided to set up a plan to run 250 marathons in one year. He was convinced not to run daily, but to "only" do five per week for 50 weeks.

He started in January 2010 in freezing weather, running around the Cochrane area for approximately six hours. Soon after, he suffered an injury, which set his schedule back by several weeks. Nonetheless, he continued to walk marathons and eventually got back on schedule and ran 10,550 kms.

Running through rain, hailstorms, etc, in local climate, he was joined by schools, friends, etc, as he made his 250 runs and eventually raised $350,000 for Right to Play. Most of his donors were schools and individuals, including many children. One of the schools Martin visited was where Marlene Doherty works.

It takes 100 trips around a soccer field to equate to a marathon and he had 60 schools and 12,000 participate with him over the year. He used up a pair of shoes for every 10 marathons, and spent $50,000 of his own money.

He notes that Right to Play is operating in 4500 schools in Africa, Asia and 20 other countries (including some Canadian aboriginal schools). A number of Olympians (including Sarah Hughes) continue working to promote Right To Play.

Martin just completed marathons in West Africa and Devonshire, England, in June.

For more information visit the Right To Play Canadian website.

Ted Valentine thanked Martin for telling his story and for his humanitarianism and presented him with a Boltman.

reported by Jim Barnes