Imagine running 45 kilometres a day, for 20 days straight along a rugged trail.
That's exactly what a woman from Barrie is planning to do, and she’s not letting her legal blindness stop her.
She knows it's going to be challenging, but that's why she's doing it.
“There is definitely something about this that is to show what you can do,” says Rhonda-Marie Avery. “Even when you've been told not to.”
Next month, Avery is planning to run the Bruce Trail – the longest marked hiking trail in the country at almost 900 kilometres long.
The run will be rough, but she won’t be on her own.
“I have a guide runner that runs in front of me and one that runs behind me, so someone to point out the route, rocks, run, jump, that sort of thing, and someone to watch for the trail markers,” she says.
“I'm doing this as a display, or an attempt to draw awareness for disabled athletes who are out there doing and trying.”
Cody Gilles will be with Avery every step of the way and he has a few ground rules to follow.
“I just let her know what's there, and she makes decisions based on her own as well, based on what I'm saying. My job is to be her visual input and she does the rest,” he says.
Avery will begin her run in Tobermory in August and through her journey she will be raising money for Achilles Canada – a not-for-profit organization that helps disabled athletes learn how to run.
