(In the above photo Merriclkville Councillor Chuck MacInnis is seen welcoming Canal Pursuit for Mental Health relay runners Clay Williams (blue shirt), Bob Joynt (Smiths Falls) and Lori Bates (Franktown) when they arrived in Merrickville Friday, 24 August.)
On Friday, 24 August 2018, Clay Williams and some of his relay team arrived at the Blockhouse by the locks in Merrickville for a brief welcoming ceremony and to pass the baton to a new runner for the last leg of the day to Burritt’s Rapids lock. Williams is completing the Fourth Annual Canal Pursuit for Mental Health. The event is designed to raise awareness of depression and the stigma attached to mental illness. His hope is that through the efforts of this event and the people supporting him that those in need will ask for help.
He said that on day two of the run they had already exceeded their fundraising goal of $10,000.00
When the run finishes on Parliament hill on August 25th, Williams and the Relay Team will have run a distance of 785 km. He and his runners travel the entire length of the Trent Severn and the Rideau Canals. They stop at all 88 locks along the route and end the journey on Parliament Hill.
This is the fourth year Williams has been conducting this event. In years 1 and 2 he was a solo runner periodically picking up a running mate to keep him company on the long miles. Support for his cause and this event is growing. Last year he made the event a relay effort and had 20 runners completing the distance. This year he has 50 runners.
He said in an interview that he was considering changing the event to paddling the entire distance, but the volunteer relay runners have dissuaded him, saying they want to continue this effort.
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