Former Olympian journeying across Canada in support of nation's youth

Steve O’Brien says he’ll do just about anything to help the country’s youth live better lives and complete their education.
The former Canadian Olympian is proving it with his actions.

O’Brien has spent the past two-and-a-half months walking, running, cycling, long-boarding – even snowshoeing and skiing – his way across Canada, raising money where he can to give back to local youth organizations.

It’s all about the kids, the 51-year-old said, arriving in Thunder Bay where he plans to spend Canada Day in honour of his hero, Terry Fox, whose Marathon of Hope came to an end just east of the city in 1980.

“I don’t want people talking about me. I don’t want people talking about awareness for our kids. As I’ve been moving down the map it’s getting stronger and stronger. Now I’m going to try to create a wave in front of me, instead of behind me,” O’Brien said on Tuesday, a rare rest day on a journey he hopes to wrap up in early December in St. John’s, N.L.

O’Brien, a member of Canada’s 1992 Olympic track team, has been working in schools for the past quarter of a century.

He started teaching elementary students, moved to high school and then adult education and is now working in the special education field.

“I’ve seen every age group and every form of kids that have been going through things and to make this tour unique I had to make it different,” he said.

“So what I’m holding in my hand is like an Olympic baton. With the help of Glenroy Gilbert, a gold medalist in the 1996 Olympics, he told me to get this stick across Canada.”

With detours he expects the trek to see him travel anywhere between 11,000 and 12,000 kilometres.

“What’s also fun about it is I’m challenging every youth across Canada, all school kids and youth groups, to do a relay day sometime in 2015, accumulate the kilometers, feed them back to the foundation and we’ll see who’s going to win – the old man or the kids across Canada.”

To date O’Brien, hit by a nasty summer storm as he made his way Monday into Thunder Bay, says he’s outpacing the children by a three-to-one margin.

For more information about the Walk, Run N Roll tour, visit www.steveobrienfondation.com.