the HERO ISSUE
CHANGE IS UNDERFOOT
R
unning is about health, fitness, community, mental health, love, challenge, remembrance and much more. Every weekend, there’s races across the country raising awareness and dollars for important causes. But what if there’s more to the power of pounding the pavement than signing up sponsors and hitting PBs? Maybe running can help tackle some of our more pressing problems in society. In First Nations communities across Canada, young people are five to six times more likely to commit suicide than any place else in the country. Addiction runs rampant. Can running help? It’s far from a silver bullet, but Maggie MacDonnell thinks so. MacDonnell, educational consultant for the Kativik
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2017 ISSUE 05
School Board in Salluit, an Inuit community on the northern edge of Quebec, describes incorporating running in her work with at-risk children. “After the suicide of a popular, well-loved youth, one of my runners immediately came to the fitness centre,” MacDonnell says. “He was in a state of shock and that loss made him vulnerable. This youth deals with a lot of challenges as it is—including his own battles with addiction. But that night he transferred all those emotions into working out. I was so inspired by him.” Before Salluit, MacDonnell spent a decade involved in sport as a means of youth and community development in places such as Tanzania and Botswana. She studied human
iRun because it increases my tolerance for pain and makes me stronger. — Jennifer Wickson, Ottawa
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ABDULLAH KAFASHE
Everyone has their own reasons for why they run. But in some situations, a workout can be a matter of life or death. Inside the world of running as a safety net. By Ron Johnson