Cross Canada runner Jon Nabbs poses in a superman costume in front of the Kamloops city welcome sign on the Trans-Canada highway.
(SHANNON AINSLIE / iNFOnews.ca)
February 13, 2024 - 5:30 PM
Dressed in a superman costume, Jon Nabbs stopped to pose in front of the welcome to Kamloops sign today on his cross-country run to raise funds for children fighting cancer.
The New Zealand man has been running more than a marathon every day since departing St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador on May 3 and is finally on the last leg of his 7,524 kilometre journey to Vancouver.
The superman will be resting in Kamloops for a few days and will be talking to elementary and high school students.
“When I talk to high school students it’s about having a goal that means a lot to you that is fun and meaningful and keeping it big,” he said. “When I talk to little ones it’s about fundraising and what you can achieve when you work together fundraising and about helping others.”
Inspired by the death of both of his parents to cancer, Nabbs has been stopping at hospitals along his route to raise the spirits of children with cancer and will be stopping at the BC Children’s Hospital at the end of his journey.
“I remember the awful feeling of getting my parents’ diagnosis and how it sucks the life out of you,” he said. “The child cancer side of it, the funding split for pediatric oncology versus adult oncology has kids only getting 4% of cancer research funding, and kids don’t get the same kind of cancers.”
The Vancouver Canucks emailed Nabbs today, Feb. 13, to say they are jumping onboard with the fundraiser, taking him to a game and helping him get the word out.
Nabbs is inspired by the amount of support he continues to receive on his passion run including honks, waves and visits from Canadians along the way.
“I just had a truck driver go past honking at me and when I turned to see in his window he was doing the superman pose,” he said. “It was a big guy with a beard. A bunch of people have been stopping and making donations, telling me about what the cause means to them.”
He said for the past few nights he has been staying with kind strangers who reached out offering him a bed. He’ll be staying with a contact in Kamloops tonight that has been following his progress since he left New Brunswick.
Nabbs has walked the length of New Zealand in the past and was inspired by the joy it brought people. He chose Canada to run across because of its association with Terry Fox.
“I knew if I picked Canada it would be a big challenge but there would be empathy for the cause.”
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Nabbs doesn’t listen to music when he runs and only eats three meals per day without any special supplements. He pushes food and drinks in a baby stroller and stops in towns to refill.
When asked if people tell him he is crazy for the attempting the feat, Nabbs laughed and said "yes."
After this he’ll be running the length of New Zealand again but this time in an attempt to break a Guiness World Record.
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Nabbs hopes to collect $100,000 by the end of his endeavour in Canada and has so far raised $65,000. The money will be donated to Childhood Cancer Canada and Child Cancer Foundation.
Go here to donate to the cause, and to find out more about Jon Nabbs and his run.
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