“No one will believe in your dreams more than you do.”
That was the principal message that “Fast Eddy” Dostaler wanted students at Clearwater Secondary School to take away from a presentation he gave them on Wednesday, Sept. 28.
“Your capabilities are greater than you realize,” he added.
A group of students had just finished running with Dostaler for the last few kilometres from the edge of town to the school.
Fast Eddy is on the last stage of a 26,000 km run across Canada and back to raise funds for Alzheimer's and breast cancer research.
He expects to reach Victoria in about one more month.
The reception and support he received in Clearwater, both in the spring of 2015 on his way east and this fall as he returns west, has been the best of anywhere on his cross-Canada run, he said.
This is perhaps not surprising, as the young man spent part of his childhood in Clearwater.
Terry Fox and Rick Hansen are two of his heroes but he doesn't idolize them, he said.
His mother and one of his professors have been more important influences on his life.
If he could turn back the clock, he would still do the run, but he would change some aspects of it, Fast Eddy said.
“I don't feel that I met all of my goals, because my goals developed during my run. I became more humble. I was pretty egotistical. Now I'm more grateful and appreciative of the opportunities that have been given me, “he said.
According to his website, www.fasteddycanada.com, he left Clearwater on Friday, Sept. 30. Today (Sept. 6) he is due in Kelowna.