Speech for Terry

Hello,

I will make this as short as possible due to the fact that I a large amount of work to do in the next 3 hours...I spoke in front of over 100 people today before the annual Terry Fox run here at Queens this morning. Life is very busy and I can only see it getting more hectic. I start triathlon training tomorrow and have a trial run with "Make A Wish" Queens on Tuesday. If all goes well and I feel like its the right fit for me and my schedule I will be on the marketing team and move to marketing exec over the winter. Its a wonderful opportunity to say the least and I would have a direct impact in improving children's lives. I am worried however that I will be over loaded. I have been over loaded before and it really ruins the quality of my life. Anyways here is the speech that I wrote this Saturday for the Sunday run.

        "Hello fellow runners, my name is Adam Beaudoin and I am just like you.  We all stand here today united as cancer fighters. We are all here for different reasons but the same goal: To beat this disease and change the lives of the thousands that are diagnosed each year. Some of you may know who I am, most of you probably don’t. I am a 1^st year kin  student from Victoria BC. I enjoy long walks on the beach, cooking salmon, and playing my guitar…. No this is not my lava life write up. Over the course of August I rode my bike from Victoria to Kingston to raise money for cancer research. I rode 30 days to complete a distance of over 4400 km. I had to cycle at least 160km everyday to reach Kingston on time. I raised over 42 thousand dollars for cancer research and inspired hundreds of people through out our wonderful country. Now that I have arrived at Queen’s my life has been turned up side down yet again, but by now I am used to that. I started the ride as a young 17-year-old boy who loves to live. I arrived on the 4^th of September an 18-year-old man who is so appreciative for the people and experiences that he has had. I learned many things on my ride - lessons that no one should ever learn first hand. But I am thankful for all my triumphs and tribulations nonetheless. Here is an excerpt from my blog that I updated every day during the ride….

“I finished today's ride at Terry Fox's memorial, I wish I had more time to talk about my thoughts on him and his journey but its already 11pm, I am completely exhausted and have to bike 185km tomorrow. What Terry achieved is so special and important in Canadian history as a testament to the strength of the human spirit. I cannot even fathom running 42km a day on one leg and I bike for 7 hours a day through hell. On the day when I had to climb 3 mountains in 200km I thought of Terry on the final push. He is probably one of the only people that could have ever understood what was going through my mind and why I was continuing in on such agony. Terry is one of my hero’s and I really look up to him. He raised 24 million dollars for cancer research and united a country. His life was cut very short but what he achieved in 23 years is absolutely incredible. I wish I could talk to Terry and thank him for changing so many peoples lives.”

       Some days on my ride I thought I could not go on, I thought it was too challenging. On those terrible days I thought of Terry. He went through so much on his journey across the country. Every time I biked up a colossal hill in northern Ontario, I knew Terry had run it. This was one of the few things could give me comfort and strength to over come my seemingly impossible challenges. One day however even Terry couldn’t help me…. I was on my own. On the 5 day of my ride I was biking through British Colombia and was faced with the biggest challenge of my life. It came at a time when, for three days, I had no support from my parents. I had to climb 3 mountain passes. The elevation total was over 13 000 feet. I was on the bike for over 9 hours and rode for 200km. I learnt a lesson that day that I will never forget and I would like to share it with you.

          I awoke early at 6 30 totally committed to the challenge ahead. I was excited and ready to face this monster. The first pass was 5109ft and I flew up it in an hour and a half. My legs were pistons and my lungs were strong. As I reached the summit I shouted in joy and descended down the other side at 70km/h. I reached the town of Castlegar a little tired but ready for the next stage. As I climbed in the sweltering heat bugs swarmed around my head, biting my skin. I had to push my self to ride at a rate they could not follow. I reached the top after 2 hours and was happy to have conquered a couple colossal climbs. I rode into Salamo and ate a subway sandwich. I asked the sandwich artist how the upcoming climb was. She said she did it when she was 12 and it wasn’t that bad. I wondered how a 12 year old could climb 54kms straight up to a elevation of 6000ft….I think she was trying to impress me. I set off with confidence and an exhausted pair of legs. As I entered the gates as at the start of the climb I suddenly felt an excruciating amount of pain in my sitting bones. I felt like I was sitting on hot knives and screamed out in agony. I contemplated standing the whole time but quickly thought better of it. Three hours is a long time to stand on a bike. I fought to ignore the terrible pain and tried to transfer it to power. To be honest the pain was so immense I could barely handle it let alone use it. What a way to start a climb. I starred at my feet and grunted and grimaced and shouted and dug in. It was a war of attrition and I was losing. After an hour and a half I thought I must have been nearing the summit. I looked up and saw a small line in a far away mountain. I wondered why a logging road would exist at such a ridiculous elevation. What were those engineers thinking? A semi went by on the far away road like a little tooth pick. I realized it was the same semi that passed me a while before. This seemingly unreachable road miles away was the highway, my stopping point, my goal and my salvation. I broke down. I unclipped off my bike and starred at the ground. I thought how this was impossible and I felt like I was killing myself. I looked to my left and saw a beautiful waterfall cascading down from the rock cliff. I didn’t question what I had to do. I walked over, stripped down and stood in the glacier water. It was as if I was re born. Everything was clear to me, I had to get up this mountain or I was going to die trying – that’s how focused I was. I stood in the frigged water thinking about my past life and how amazing it has been; how thankful I am for the people and experiences I’ve had; how it has all led up to this moment, a moment of self against Nature, Self against Self. This was my moment. I prayed to God asking to help me up this mountain of hell and suffering and deliver me to my friends at the bottom of the mountain. This was it. The only thing that was going to stop me was a fall over the edge. I left the waterfall and walked over to my bike. My mind was clear and calm. I tried to push off but the grade was so steep that I started to fall to the other side. My torso was hanging over a cliff with thousands of feet below to fall. I was certain to die. Instinctively my left hand slammed into the cement barrier and I fell onto the road. I was having a euphoric experience to say the least. I straddled my bike once again and headed up the remainder of the climb. I climbed with strength I never new I had. The pain was still there and it was worse than ever. None of that mattered however because in my mind I knew I was climbing to the top. My quads pulsated and screamed. Every fiber of my being was charging me up the mountain. I knew I was reaching the top and at long last, I saw the sign for the summit. I shouted and threw my hands in the air. Having already been on the bike for six hours, I had just scaled the highest pass in Canada. I powered down the other side with a smile and a mindset forever changed.

      The lesson that I am trying to share with you is this. No matter how large the challenge, no matter how impossible the situation may seem, believe you can over come it. Our minds have incredible powers and our spirits are undying. Terry was pushed beyond his limits just as I was on the mountain. Believe that you can be that change in the world; believe that we can beat this terrible disease, believe that you can be the best individual you can be. Once you believe, all else will fall into place. Terry’s run was called A run for hope. He believed. I do too. It’s time we all believe. "

Thanks for reading

Adam Beaudoin