Victoria seniors aiming to collectively walk more than 3,000 km in a month
They're not running in Sunday's Royal Victoria Marathon, but a group of seniors from Parkwood Place Retirement Residence is still aiming to cover a long distance this month.
Residents, staff and families from the facility are lacing up their shoes for a Terry-Fox-inspired journey, aiming to collectively walk the equivalent of the distance between monuments to the Canadian icon in Thunder Bay, Ont. and Victoria.
“Every person’s steps count," said Cheryl Chalifour, Parkwood Place's executive director.
"Some just walk a little bit, some walk a lot. One of our residents walks over 14 kilometres a day.”
In total, the group is aiming to walk 3,134 kilometres – the approximate distance between the two monuments – by Oct. 31.
The goal is to get seniors moving while raising money and awareness for the Terry Fox Foundation.
"Getting started wasn't easy," said resident Linda Rintoul, who walks 14 kilometres daily.
"(I thought), I might as well give it a try, I’ll just go around the block, you know? And then the next thing you know, the block gets bigger and bigger and bigger and eventually you want to do it. And that’s what happened to me. I want to do it now.”
In honour of International Active Aging Week – which started Oct. 3 and ends Sunday – 30 residents and staff at Parkwood Place collectively walked more than 600 kilometres. They celebrated the occasion with a small awards ceremony Friday morning.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bomb cyclone batters B.C. with hurricane-force winds, cutting roads and power
Hurricane-force winds of up to 159 km/h have slammed into parts of the British Columbia coast as a massive storm swirling off Vancouver Island severed highways and cut power to about 225,000 people.
A 'lot of ground' remains between Canada Post, workers as strike talks progress
Canada Post and the postal workers union found slivers of consensus Tuesday amid talks with a special mediator, but 'a lot of ground' remains between them on the key concerns as a countrywide strike entered its fifth day.
Judge orders seizure of homes belonging to Montreal billionaire accused of sex abuse
A Quebec Superior Court judge has ordered the seizure of two Montreal-area residences belonging to billionaire Robert Miller, at the request of four women who have filed civil lawsuits alleging he sexually abused them as minors.
opinion Tom Mulcair: Is Justin Trudeau just playing out the clock?
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says Canada is facing critical issues that need an active, engaged federal government right now; but Prime Minister Trudeau seems to be running out the clock before the next election.
Western embassies in Kyiv shut due to Russian air attack threat after Biden policy shift
The U.S. and some other western embassies in Kyiv said that they would stay closed Wednesday for security reasons, with the American delegation saying it had received a warning of a potentially significant Russian air attack on the Ukrainian capital.
Two undersea cables in Baltic Sea disrupted, sparking warnings of possible 'hybrid warfare'
Two undersea internet cables in the Baltic Sea have been suddenly disrupted, according to local telecommunications companies, amid fresh warnings of possible Russian interference with global undersea infrastructure.
'I'm just tickled pink': Two childhood friends from New Brunswick named Rhodes Scholars
Two young women from New Brunswick have won one of the most prestigious and sought-after academic honours in the world.
Canada Post strike could hurt charity donations during holiday season
Charities and non-profits are having to pivot after nearly 55,000 workers represented by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers walked off the job Friday. The strike has halted mail from going out and charities are concerned it may stop donations from coming in.
Rogers Sports and Media cuts a 'few dozen' jobs in its audio business
Rogers Sports and Media has cut what it says are a 'few dozen' jobs in its audio business.