Going for a walk ... a big walk.

 One of my assignments this week is to write up an advancer story on the Terry Fox Run which happens every September. It got me thinking about the first time I was in a charity walk. It was 1968 in Toronto. It was called Oxfam's Miles for Millions.

I can't remember what prompted me to get involved other than it was the thing to do if you were in Grade 8. It was on a Saturday in May, I think. And for a lot of young teens, it was the thing to do, to just be cool.

No one seemed to give any thought to the idea of walking 40 miles -- yes, 40 miles, in one day.  

The Toronto walk, from what I can find on the Internet, was a reaction to walks that took place in Montreal and Ottawa in 1967 as centennial projects. 

In my minds eye, I remember being down at the Exhibition grounds by Lakeshore Drive. It was around nine in the morning. There was some music, some speeches, and then we were off, a mass of humanity about 50,000 strong. It was exciting to be part of it. But soon enough, the dreariness of continual walking set in. We all had little cards to be stamped at waypoints along the route., proving we had been there. 

Thank goodness for the waypoints. There was free water, pop and food; things like cookies, bags of chips and popcorn. 

Interestingly I noticed that young teens such as myself and my cohorts had lots of stamina. Sure our feet got sore and it was a hot and sunny day, but we just kept going, because the crowd kept going. I remember commenting to my friends about the many different parts of Toronto where I had sold newspapers, a job I had for every weekend for three or four years.

As I remember the walk went from Lakeshore out to Islington Avenue, north to Lawrence Avenue, west to Kennedy Road in Scarborough, south to the Danforth and then from there to city hall. 

It was around suppertime that I began to feel the aching in my feet and legs. By that time we were in Scarborough and heading for downtown. I sat down a couple of times to rest, but soon regretted it, because I did not want to stand up again. But we did. And we plodded on.

I think the best part was as we approached Nathan Phillips Square we could hear rock music pounding away through the downtown streets, especially on Queen Street. It was around 8 p.m. Sure enough as we finished the walk by arriving at city hall, there was excitement over the fact that Jefferson Airplane and Grace Slick were giving a free concert. They were a big rock band from San Francisco. 

We were also excited to have finished the walk. It was a fun time to be alive. We hung around for the rest of the concert before a terrible fatigue set in. I remember going home on the subway and buses and barely being able to stay awake. 

(Photo: MacLean's Archive)