Club 3A

Outdoor activities have been part of me since I was very young. My parents were hiking and camping enthusiasts themselves, so each summer, my family and I would leave on vacation all around Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick for two weeks. I kept great memories from these weeks of outdoor activities like canoeing or hiking. I also remember all the nights we spent telling each other stories around the campfire.

Like any teenager, outdoors activities gradually disappeared from my life when I started working. The work-study-friendship balance made the two weeks of family camping a little less appealing than the time spent in the Montreal suburb.

At the beginning of my adult life, I progressively discovered high performance sports, starting with the long-distance triathlon. After getting rather average results in all the sports I had previously played, I finally fest competent in one discipline. What made me stand out was my work ethics and my perseverance. Nevertheless, whenever a sport required great technical skills, I ended up in the average. However, triathlon is a sport that originally requires few technical skills for cycling and running. As for swimming, it was my favourite sport when I was in high school, so I didn’t have to develop technical skills for swimming quickly as they were already acquired. Therefore, I quickly had very good results until the World Championship in 2015. In 2018, after two difficult seasons, I decided to stop it all to focus on my studies at Sherbrooke University,

It was in 2020 that I rediscovered outdoors and physical activities. There’s nothing like a good resolution on the start of a new decade to motivate! I had gained 70 pounds, and I was unable to run for more than a few minutes. My goal was to run my first ultra-marathon that same year and lose 50 pounds in the process. I had no knowledge of trail running and was unaware that to reach my goal, I’d have to train in the woods. So it was a happy coincidence that I got reacquainted with the outdoors. I was now running in trails I walked on as a child. From the first time I set foot in the woods again, I felt this call for nature and adventure. Throughout the years, I had lost that sense of well-being in the forest and just enjoy the moment; complex problems suddenly became simpler. Since then, I have felt the need to have my weekly dose of time nature. Thanks to my 2020 resolution, my challenge now is no longer to go for a run or in the woods; I must convince myself not to overdo it and not to plan 50 races per year.

I heard about the On the Tip of the Toes Foundation while listening to different podcasts . I was immediately hooked by its mission. As I am aware of the benefits that nature and adventure can do on a daily basis; I can imagine what therapeutic adventures can bring to young people with cancer. I was inspired to get involved when some friends took part in races for the Foundation, such as the CRYO Race. I had to and I could also get involved for the cause and raise funds myself.