Halifax man running across Canada for heart and stroke awareness
Neither snow nor rain nor crummy Cape Breton weather could stop Ryan Keeping from chasing his dream of running across Canada on Friday.
"My dream is to run across Canada, 75 kilometers a day,” the Halifax native said in one of his many Instagram videos documenting his coast-to-coast journey.
After completing the distance across Newfoundland, the 26-year-old got off the Newfoundland Ferry Friday morning and began Day 12 of his journey on foot to British Columbia.
"I just love pushing my limits. I always have,” Keeping said.
Keeping's goal is to run nearly two marathons a day for 99 days to raise at least $100,000 for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and to inspire his nearly 75,000 Instagram followers.
"Just also I think when people hear 75 kilometers a day or a big number like that, it makes them realize, 'OK, anything's possible right?’ If you really, really chase down your dream and you put everything into it - it's possible,” Keeping said.
The ultra-runner’s father - who is on the ground supporting his son every step of the way - lives with a heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.A big reason Keeping is running is to do it for Dad.
"I went and did the genetic testing myself, and found out that I had the gene,” Scott Keeping said. "I have absolutely no doubt in his (Ryan’s) capabilities. When things get hard, he realizes that all of Canada is behind him."
In communities everywhere, strangers join Keeping for a few kilometres — and learn about pushing their own limits.
"I didn't expect to do 25K today”, said Logan Latulippe of Glace Bay, N.S., who met Keeping at the ferry terminal in North Sydney. "For me, it was my longest run I've done — and he's in his van for another 20 or 30 minutes, and he's just going to get right back up and start again."
Like many who try to run coast-to-coast, Terry Fox is Keeping's hero.
Ryan Keeping is running across Canada to raise money for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. (Source: Facebook/Ryan Keeping)
While Fox’s Marathon of Hope raised money for cancer, Keeping is grateful he's been able to touch people's lives already with his own cause.
"I'm getting messages from people saying, 'Man, my grandfather died of a stroke or a heart attack. You're inspiring me,’” Keeping said. “And like, 'He's with you when you're doing this.' It's just really cool to see the community come behind it."
The young Maritimer's goal is to finish in Victoria, B.C., on July 7.
For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Large numbers of New York City police officers begin entering Columbia University campus
Large numbers of New York City police officers began entering the Columbia University late Tuesday as dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters remained on the campus.
Poilievre kicked out of Commons after calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 'wacko'
Testy exchanges between the prime minister and his chief opponent ended with the Opposition leader and one of his MPs being ejected from the House of Commons on Tuesday -- and the rest of Conservative caucus walking out of the chamber in protest.
Baby, grandparents among 4 people killed in wrong-way police chase on Ontario's Hwy. 401
A police chase which started with a liquor store robbery in Bowmanville Monday night ended in tragedy some 20 minutes later when a suspect fleeing police entered Highway 401 in the wrong direction and caused a pileup which killed an infant and the child's grandparents, as well as the suspect, investigators say.
Freeland leaves capital gains tax change out of coming budget implementation bill, here's why
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be tabling yet another omnibus bill to pass a sweeping range of measures promised in her April 16 federal budget, though left out of the legislation will be the government's proposed capital gains tax change.
Sword-wielding man attacks passersby in London, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring 4 others
A man wielding a sword attacked members of the public and police officers in a northeast London suburb Tuesday, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring four other people, British authorities said.
Man dies after suffering cardiac arrest while waiting in ER, widow wants investigation
When an ambulance took David Lippert to the hospital in March of 2023, the 68-year-old Kitchener, Ont., executive was hoping to find out why he was feeling weak and unable to walk. Some 24 hours later, he was found unresponsive in the ER.
CSE says it shared information on Chinese hacking of parliamentarians in 2022
While several MPs and senators say they were only recently made aware of China-backed hackers targeting them, the Communications Security Establishment, one of Canada's intelligence agencies, says it shared information about the incident with parliamentary officials in June of 2022.
WATCH Arnold Schwarzenegger spotted filming in Elora, Ont.
The name of the project has not been officially released although it’s widely believed to be the Netflix series FUBAR.
Eviction for landlord's use was legitimate, despite owners' partial move, B.C. court rules
A B.C. judge has upheld the eviction of a family from their North Vancouver townhouse, finding that the landlords did not take an unreasonable amount of time to move into the home after the tenants vacated it.