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Victoria to St. John's run for ultamarathoner

A rare road trip between friends. Just 24 hours after winning the 100-mile Lost Souls Ultra in a record time in Lethbridge, Okotoks' David Proctor announced on Sunday he plans to run across Canada next summer to raise money for rare disease research.
Dave Proctor en route to winning the Lost Souls Ultra 100-mile run on Sept. 8-9. He announced the day after the race he plans to run across Canada to raise funds for the Rare
Dave Proctor en route to winning the Lost Souls Ultra 100-mile run on Sept. 8-9. He announced the day after the race he plans to run across Canada to raise funds for the Rare Disease Foundation.

A rare road trip between friends.

Just 24 hours after winning the 100-mile Lost Souls Ultra in a record time in Lethbridge, Okotoks' David Proctor announced on Sunday he plans to run across Canada next summer to raise money for rare disease research.

"I am going to start June 22 in Victoria and I have scheduled 66 days of running, so about 108km a day on average," the 36-year-old Proctor said on Saturday, of the cross-country trek of 7,200km. "It's about 12 hours of running a day."

His secondary goal is to beat Al Howie's record of 72 days and 10 hours.

His primary goal is to raise $1-milllion through the Cross-Canada For Rare run. The proceeds will go to the Rare Disease Foundation.

Proctor won't have to look too far for inspiration when he runs through the Canadian Shield in the blazing sun next summer.

He is inspired every time he sits down for a family meal.

"My eight-year-old son, Sam, has a very rare disease called RECA and we just got the diagnosis four-months ago," Proctor said. "Our life just got turned around. Now we can stop looking (for what is wrong). It is a frustrating thing when you want to help your child, but you don't know how to help.

"When medicine does finally catch up and provides answers it is an incredible feeling. I want that for more families."

The happy-go-lucky Sam, a Grade 3 student at St. Mary's School, has mobility and balance issues and has to use a walker.

"We went about six years in that kind of diagnostic-oddity of not knowing where to turn — is what you're doing making things better or worse?" Proctor said. "Now knowing, it makes a world of difference."

Sam is one in a handful of people in the world with the disease.

"If my son Sam could run like his father can, he would never stop," Proctor said. "But I stop just because I am uncomfortable and that is not fair."

Proctor is going to be helped out on his Victoria to St. John's, NFLD jog by his wife Sharon and pals Wayne and Trish Gaudet of Okotoks. Wayne recently won the men's 60-plus world 24-hour running championship in Belfast on Canada Day.

"I am going to be Dave's butler," Wayne said with a laugh. "It is going to be pretty exciting. It is quite an undertaking."

Gaudet knows plenty about running, he's also got first-hand knowledge of the most famous support van in history.

He was instrumental in bringing the Terry Fox van and Terry's father Rolly to the Sheep River Road Race in Okotoks in the late 2000s.

"When you look back at what that young man did for weeks on end on one leg it's inspiring," Gaudet said. "You look at that van and his brother (Darrell) driving the thing every day -- he had to give up a lot of time to do that.

"For me, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see Canada."

He is awed by Proctor's running prowess.

"He's not nuts, he has got ability that not many people have," Gaudet said. "He's young, got an amazing talent and is trying to do something good with it. I am very impressed and proud he is trying to do something as crazy as this."

For information about Proctor's cross-country run go to Xcanada4rare.ca

Lost Souls

The hardest part about Proctor's 100-mile run at the Lost Souls in Lethbridge on Friday/Saturday might have been getting there.

Proctor forgoed four-wheel transportation and ran from Okotoks to Claresholm on Wednesday and then to the 'Bridge on Thursday for the race the next day.

All of it in smoky air that led to the cancellation of high school football games in southern Alberta.

"The smoke really got to me the second day and I got down to Lethbridge and the morning day of the race my heart beat was about 25 beats per minuts than normal so I knew I had to pull it back enough during the race to conserve."

A number of runners took off like rabbits at the start of the race at 9 a.m. meanwhile Proctor sat back like the legendary turtle.

"They went out really hard and little bit, by little bit they came back to my pace and in the end I was battling with Ian McKinley from Kamloops," Proctor said. "He just wouldn't give up — he kept pushing and I kept pushing, and I didn't have much left, but I found a certain gear with about 10 miles left… He (McKinley) was right on my tail, so I just had to grind."

Proctor was able to finish 50 minutes ahead of McKinley in a record time of 19 hours and 27 minutes.

The Okotoks runner had planned to run home from Lost Souls but he was smoked out and decided that might even be too nutty for him.

He stopped at the hospital in Lethbridge on Saturday morning to get checked out.

"I can't take a deep breath and my chest hurts and they advised I do not do that," Proctor said. "It would be great training but I really don't need it."

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