Superhero runner runs 5,000 miles

Jamie McDonald ran 5,000 miles across Canada dressed as a superhero. Why would anybody do anything so crazy? Find out by watching this video. 

Instructions

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Transcript

Newsreader, Eamonn Holmes: Right let's go, we’ve got Jamie McDonald there and he is the man who is in ... where are you, Jamie? Vancouver, excellent, so have you done it? Is it all over?

Jamie McDonald: It’s over, Eamonn, it’s all over!

Eamonn: Brilliant and how are you? How are you feeling and how are your feet?

Jamie: Feet are kinda a little bit off, off-key but I’ve done it and that’s all that matters. I cried like a little baby ...

Eamonn: Brilliant, brilliant, Jamie, for anybody that hasn’t followed your journey or don’t know what we are both talking about here, tell them what the ‘feat’ was.

Jamie: So I ran over 200 marathons across Canada in less than three hundred days, without a support crew, erm, it was absolute hell! I was fundraising for the children's hospitals.

Eamonn: And your hair’s grown, we see, in that time. You obviously haven’t had time to stop off at the barber's.

Jamie: I had a shave, just for you though, Eamonn.

Eamonn: Absolutely brilliant. Now you had a few wee hiccups on the way, you know, you had that wee business where you were, you were robbed and er ... whatever, but everything turned out OK.

Jamie: Yeah, you know like it was a battle and I ended up running in kind of minus 40 temperatures, where I got frostbite, and then on New Year's Eve I got beat up and mugged but luckily I got everything back. I ... just not my money but which you know that’s replaceable.

Eamonn: Yeah, I know you ran as The Flash but you could have been The Hulk at times, because we are going to see you get a little bit angry here, you know, we don’t, you wouldn’t like you when you are angry! Have a look at this ...

Jamie: I’ve seen that sign before, I’ve gone the wrong way. How have I done it ahhhhhh I’ve woke up this morning and I’ve gone east instead of west.

Eamonn: And and that’s why you should have had a support team, I suppose. We can feel your frustration there because the pain and the agony and the physical exhaustion and the mental exhaustion and then when something like that happens oohhh it hurts, doesn’t it?

Jamie: What’s worse is that there’s no road to go down that was wrong, I was on one road, I just decided to go the other way and continuing along west, it’s probably why it hurt so bad.

Eamonn: Well, you know that was a low, understandably. Lots of highs as well. Have a look at this one.

Jamie: I think this is it,  it's the summit. Who’s the daddy? Who’s the daddy? Who is the daddy? I’ll tell you who the daddy is … I’m the daddy, I … am … the … daddy yeahhhhhhh. ugh ugh I just got salt in my mouth!

Eamonn: Jamie, will there be Jamie McDonald, the movie? We’ve got to see it after this, the daddy, the reason was that that was you at the top of The Rockies, as I understand it?

Jamie: That was my final hurdle, it was actually the Coquihalla nicknamed the ‘highway of hell’. I was running through a snowstorm. Yeah, I thought I was gonna die but even worse, I got a bucket load of salt and snow!

Eamonn: And there’s a picture that we are seeing here, and people are thinking what’s this claw  in this water here, for you, it’s your hand that looks quite distorted there and if I’ve understood this correctly this is the Pacific Ocean, and this is representing you completing that 5,000 mile run, a year on, the equivalent of 200 marathons in 275 days. And then you touched the water, yeah, you put your hand into the Pacific. How did that feel?

Jamie: You know, I just couldn’t stop crying. I’ve been through so much for so long every single day I was running a marathon, in agony, you know and eh I’ve finally found something, you know, Eamonn, that kind of makes a difference to other people's lives and so I couldn’t stop, I couldn’t stop even though I wanted to, every every single day and I made it and I dreamt about that moment of putting my hand in the Pacific Ocean. And I done it, it was the best moment of my life.

Eamonn: Well, you’ve done it, not just for your life but lots and lots of children's lives and you chose children's charities. Tell people why you chose children's charities, please, and how much you raised.

Jamie: You know I spent the first nine years of my life, most of the time, in hospital. I’ve got a condition called syringomyelia. So symptoms as a kid, sometimes I wouldn’t be able to move my legs, I had an immune deficiency, the list goes on and on and if it wasn’t for the children's hospitals that helped me out as a kid I might not be here so this was my way of giving back to the UK hospitals, The Pied Piper Appeal and GOSH but also out in Canada. So far I’ve raised about £120,000.

Eamonn: And you are still looking for donations and money and people can get you on your website and your Twitter page and all that sort of thing.

Jamie: Yeah, if people go to www.jamiemcdonald.org that’s where you can donate and you can also follow the journey on Twitter @MrJamieMcDonald. It’s still not quite over; I’m going to do a little fun run on the island and probably drink a beer every single mile!

Eamonn: Well, no one deserves it more than you, my friend. Can I just ask you, when are you coming home, Gloucester’s home yeah?

Jamie: It is, yeah. I’m going to be home on 11th February. So it looks like Gloucester are doing a  bit of a welcome home party, with the Gloucester Cathedral and the Gloucester rugby players are going to be getting involved so it’s going to be a load more ‘man tears’ all over again!

Eamonn: Well, Gloucester I’m sure are very, very proud of you. Number one son at the moment. Just do us a favour, maybe just take an aeroplane home, like normal people, you know, you don’t have to do anything extraordinary. Just jump on a plane. Come home, see you 13th February, the day before Valentine's Day. He is Jamie McDonald. Very good meeting you, Jamie, a huge success, fantastic!

Jamie: Bye bye.

Eamonn: Absolutely brilliant, thank you ...

© Sky News

Discussion

What do you think about Jamie McDonald's run across Canada? If you want to find out more about him you can watch this short documentary

Average: 5 (1 vote)
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Comments

Submitted by 66klasa66 on Mon, 03/16/2020 - 20:45

It was difficult, but it paid off.

Submitted by 66klasa66 on Mon, 03/16/2020 - 17:26

I think that Jamie McDonald is real superhero, because he gave all that money to hospitals.
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