Sault man running home from B.C. more than halfway here (4 photos)

Over 10 years, this has been a dream for 61-year-old Rick Fall. To run from Victoria B.C., back to Sault Ste. Marie to raise $300,000 for Make-A-Wish-Foundation Canada and Childhood Cancer Canada while making it a goal to inspire others to never give up.

Fall originally planned to start his endeavour in April 2020 but had to postpone it because of the pandemic. Thankfully this year, on April 12, he started his journey home. He plans to run for 100 days and complete 4,200 kilometres.

He started his journey the same day that Terry Fox started his run across Canada 41 years ago.

“It was supposed to be April 13, 2020. I wanted to keep it to the third Monday of April,” he said. “It was a coincidence that it was on April 12 this year”.

On his fourth day, he reached downtown Vancouver where the Terry Fox monuments are. He was able to get a picture beside all of them. He says experiencing that moment was unbelievable and another reason for his inspiration to tackle this journey.

With the help of his wife Colette, trusted family dog Razzle, and their home on wheels, he is over halfway home and feeling better than he ever thought he would be.

“I feel way better than I ever thought I was going to,” he said. “Mentally and physically.”

The run home has pushed his mental game to new heights, and at the beginning of the journey in his third week, he ran one of his longest runs, which was 52 kilometres. And not one week later, he hit the first 1,000 kilometres, which brought him to Golden, B.C., on day 28 of his journey.

In recent weeks, on June 6, he hit another major milestone, the halfway point and two days later reached over 2,000 kilometres of distance, bringing him to Montmartre, Sask.

Fall was not expecting to feel this good at the halfway mark and thought to himself that by now, he might have thought of stopping, but not once has that thought crossed his mind, even on days when the weather was unbearable.

“I haven’t felt that at all,” he said. “There have been some long slow days, and I think it is what it is, and I can’t change the weather.”

Fall has experienced some blisters on his feet, but with a shoe switch and getting some assistance in Calgary, it’s been smooth sailing and what’s helped him continue on his way.

“I had a couple of issues with blisters on my feet and toes,” he said. “I had a little bit of a quad pull before I got to Calgary. I was able to visit a physiotherapist through a friend from high school.”

As Fall planned for his journey home, he thought he’d run 42 kilometres per day. But throughout his route, some days have been longer and shorter than others. In fact, he thinks he might be reaching Sault Ste. Marie sooner than expected.

“I was going to try and average 42 kilometres a day, and I think I’m a little bit under that,” he said. “But it’s going fantastic.”

Fall anticipated running 4,200 kilometres, but given some GPS tracking, those numbers may be off.

“The way Google Maps tracks things and my calculations. I may end up being shy of a couple of hundred kilometres. I don’t know exactly,” he said.

Ahead of schedule, Fall reached the Manitoba border two days sooner than expected. He anticipated getting to Manitoba on June 14, but after a run of over 46 kilometres on June 12, he crossed the border between Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

The discussion of running this event has been a conversation among the Fall family for years. 

“It's been something he's been talking about for years now,” said Chanel Larkin-Fall, Fall’s daughter.

“I'm happy that he's finally able to get it done despite the setbacks due to COVID-19. It's nice knowing where he and my mom are on a daily basis and watching his daily distances on Strava.

“I think the people they're meeting are inspiring them as much as the other way around. I'm sure they are having the journey of their lives. I'm proud that he's out there doing what he loves and is raising money for these charities while doing it,” she said.

Fall is tackling the journey of a lifetime with one of the biggest smiles on his face. He greets all who come his way, and he updates everyone through Facebook posts and posts Strava.

Continuing on his journey, Fall’s wife Colette says her husband will make it to Ontario in about two weeks, “Maybe June 29.” And from there, it will take him five to six weeks to run through Ontario to make it back home.

Fall believes the real work will begin when he hits the Ontario border, as there are more technical hills.

“It’s not going to be easy, but again it’s a mental game,” he said.

He has met a few other runners who have made the trek across Canada and says that Ontario is the most challenging spot.

“Between other people who have run across Canada, they say Thunder Bay to Sault Ste. Marie is tougher than the Rockies because the hills are steep and up and down, up and down,” he said. “Whereas the Rockies are more gentle.”

Fall is preparing for his final weeks but knows that he won't be far from home when he hits specific points along the way.

“I just put one foot in front of the other,” he said. “I think once I get past Winnipeg, things are going to start feeling like I’m almost home.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: Update, Rick Fall reached Winnipeg yesterday, June 21.