It’s going to take Edward Dostaler 47.74 weeks, $25,000 and 28 pairs of shoes to run 18,036 kilometres across the country and back next year.
He’s done the math — 28 pairs of runners will get him from the Pacific to the Atlantic and from the Atlantic back to the Pacific because each pair lasts precisely 697.83 kilometres.
“I’m one of those scientific people,” the 25-year-old Kamloops native told KTW.
“I have it down to a T.”
It’s a good thing he’s done his homework because Dostaler’s goal is a lofty one.
“I’m going to be the first person in history to run across Canada there and back,” Dostaler said.
He plans to begin in Victoria in March 2015, running unassisted across the country to Halifax and back.
With no vehicle behind him, he’ll push a jogging stroller with everything he needs, including a tent.
“It’s going to be me and the road,” Dostaler said.
The natural athlete won’t be running for kicks.
He’s getting the word out a year before to make the most of it, raising money for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and Alzheimer Society of Canada.
The two agencies — Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and Alzheimer Society of Canada — are close to Dostaler’s heart.
His grandmother, who helped raised him and nicknamed him Fast Eddy as a child, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease last year.
He is dedicating one leg of his run to her.
The other leg is dedicated to a former TRU professor, Tom Owen, who passed away of lung cancer and was an avid proponent for breast-cancer research.
“He took time to get to know me on a very personal level,” Dostaler said. “[He was] very inspirational.”
Dostaler plans to honour both by running 60 kilometres a day for six days a week and 20 kilometres on the seventh — rest — day.
In his mind, there’s no turning back.
“I’d be dishonouring my grandmother and my professor if I ever did,” he said.
While his grandmother’s diagnosis was the push Dostaler needed to take time off working as a carpenter, the run has been on his bucket list since he was 15 and studying Terry Fox and Rick Hansen in school.
The feat is similar to one Britain’s Jamie McDonald finished last month when he ran solo across Canada, raising funds for children’s charities.
As part of his research, Dostaler spoke to McDonald — who came through Kamloops — and learned the importance of doing something different to stand out and ultimately help his causes.
“I’d rather suffer a little bit to hopefully get those causes as much funding as possible,” Dostaler said. “A lot of people just haven’t tested themselves. I’m one who is willing to test myself’
Dostaler is seeking sponsorship from local businesses before his run in 2015. He needs $25,000 for promotions, food and the occasional hotel stay and hopes to raise $250,000 for his charities.
For more information, go online to facebook.com/fasteddydostaler.
