Fast Eddy’s quest to help

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

On March 1, he began his 21,585 kilometre trek across the country, starting in Victoria and scheduled to wrap up in St. John’s by next January.
Edward ‘Fast Eddy’ Dostaler was inspired by famous Canadian sports icons Terry Fox and Rick Hansen to run across Canada to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s and Breast Cancer research.
“I decided to do this run when I was 15 – I would run across Canada one way for Alzheimer’s after I did a research paper on ‘Heroes of Canada’ and it seemed like a selfless act that they were doing,” said Dostaler. “I picked (Rick and Terry), because it didn’t personally affect me whatsoever, but it was on the backburner in my mind when I would do it.”
While on his run this far, he has enjoyed the scenery along the way.
“A lot of people don’t know this, but there is some beautiful scenery in Kamloops,” said Dostaler. “When you get to take those pictures, you get to meet new people, the smells are great, but it’s the interactions with the touching stories people have for you.”
He wanted to do a run for a cause that did not affect him personally, such as Alzheimer’s, but it became more than just an ordinary cross-country awareness tour.
Dostaler is doing this run solo and felt as if that was the best way to raise awareness about cancer and cut costs down.
“He wanted to zigzag across the country because he thought it would raise more awareness and you take populations like Edmonton, where you can cover more distances and raise a lot more awareness for the causes that way,” said Heather Osborne, communications rep for Fast Eddy.
She added that health issues are the main concern and that Dostaler has to let them know frequently how he is doing.
“Obviously there is added risks when you run by yourself, so he sends out a signal every 10 minutes which is also really neat because people can follow him wherever he goes,” said Osborne.
While running in each province, he wants to raise more funds towards cancer and Alzheimer’s research with a lengthy jog.
“He’s doing 24-hour runs in each province to try and increase the amount of funds raised for the causes, as well as building more awareness so people can come up to him about why he is running,” said Osborne.
If you would like to follow Fast Eddy, you can log onto his website at www.fasteddycanada.com.
He is tentatively set to run through Strathmore in mid-April.