Tabitha Holman
Tabitha shares her experience with metastatic breast cancer and her advocacy to reform the current standards of care for breast cancer in Canada.
More Than Our Story
Myles Dininio
Twenty-two years after crossing the country on a mountain bike, Myles Dininio set out to repeat the feat on foot. Starting on April 1st in St. John’s, Newfoundland, he covered nearly 8000 kilometers in 147 days, overcoming injuries and harsh weather to raise funds, increase awareness, and normalize conversations about mental health.
Highlights
I had no idea what to expect… We originally planned the trip day to day, and on the first day we changed the plans. At that point, I knew that it was going to be quite the journey.
I rode my mountain bike across the country on a $100 bet with some buddies when I was 18 years old… I figured my next big move would be to travel across the country on foot.
I still work full time. I'm a father. I own a property, so there's lots of work to do here. So I wasn't able to completely dedicate all my time to running, but I ran a few runs before the run.
You can never prepare for the mental (aspect) that I went through there. I'm still trying to process everything that I've experienced. It was a real roller coaster of emotions.
When we started out in Newfoundland, our warmest night was -18°C. We got a foot of snow almost every day for the 15 days I was there.
I had a strict schedule in mind, but, like I said, it didn't last. My body definitely dictated what we were doing daily.
We started off doing 60 (kilometers) a day on average, and I hurt myself out on the East Coast… I blew out my knees and had to cut back to about 40-45 (kilometers) a day for a couple of weeks before I was able to get back up in my numbers.
I had many injuries along the way. The first one was on the 11th day of the run. I broke the metatarsal bone in my right foot… I was wrapping my foot for about three weeks. After that, I had to adjust my step, and I was running into the Appalachians, coming downhill in New Brunswick, and I blew out both knees within, I'd say, about five steps. By the time I got to the bottom of the hill, I couldn't even walk anymore. That was the first day that I had to call my driver to come pick me up.
Because of all these injuries, I kept having to change my stride, which would lead to further injuries. I ended up blowing out my right hip, coming through Quebec, and then my groin at the beginning of Ontario on the left side. So there was quite some time there where I was dealing with a lot of injuries. I don't think I was actually fully back to normal until about Thunder Bay, which is more than halfway across Canada.
One of my strong suits is the ability to motivate myself and keep myself out there. I'm pretty stubborn, so it would take a lot to stop me. I would probably roll across Canada if I had to. I didn't have any stop in me.
How he feels today:
I'm sore, but I'm strong. I still run every evening. My kids go on mountain bikes, and I run beside them while they ride. We try to put in at least 10-15 (kilometers) every day still, just so we stay sharp.
I had a plan, and then my plan changed, like everything. I was eating all kinds of meals, all kinds of carbs and protein throughout the day. By the end, it was a purely liquid diet during the day. I would have a big breakfast and two big dinners.
When I ran home (from Newfoundland to Zephyr)... I took two days off in Quebec, and then when I got home, I stayed home for about 5 or 6 days before I carried on. Once I carried on, I didn't stop. I stopped once in Alberta for one day.
Sometimes I'd only run 20-15 (kilometers). Not every day was a full 60. Some days were more than 60, and some days were less. It really depends. But I tried to move forward every day.
I heard a lot of very heavy stories that, at the beginning, it was very hard to carry (them) and continue running. But I learned to find a place for them, and I learned one of my purposes on the road was to be here for these people that weren't talking to other people, or even their family.
I was stuck in my head for 6 to 8 hours a day, every day. Doing my best to “not grow problems” is what I discovered. Because I would realize something that would bother me, and by the end of the day, it would be this massive issue when really it's not.
I believe in feeling everything—even the bad stuff. Allow yourself to feel it, process it, absorb it a bit, but don't let it stick—let it move on from you. Don't keep carrying every little thing, every little issue: it's not beneficial to you.
(My family) joined me at the end of school… and they did 62 days with me… I needed that. It was a long time away from home. It was a long time away from family. We have the cell phones, the computers, the technology to stay in touch. But it doesn't do what your people actually being there does for you.
I got to the (Pacific) ocean probably around 2:30 in the afternoon that day, and it was a very busy beach… I sat on a log for about an hour and stared at the ocean before I actually got up and went... I wasn't ready.
Mental health… That's something that's affected me my whole life. It still does today, even though this big journey is over. I think everybody struggles, and I think everybody can relate to mental health. That was a big reason for choosing mental health.
We all have had a moment in our lifetime where something has felt heavier than it should, or something has felt out of our capability to deal with. So I think that it was important to focus on that and let the world know, not just Canada… that we're all in the same boat. We're all dealing with the same darn things.
It's just a matter of us realizing that, and that will allow us to come together and potentially be more comfortable talking about it.
I've always said that a simple phone call could probably save a life. I truly believe that.
I rerouted my whole route so I’d run past (my kid’s) school, and when I did, all 160 kids and teachers and everybody were out on the street lining it, waiting for me to come down, holding signs and cheering.
On Terry Fox:
He did it. He did everything he needed to do. He did amazing.
Reflecting on his run:
It taught me to trust myself, and it definitely allowed me to believe in myself more than I ever had before… All of that really helped me through my run… It taught me the value of community and people, and how great people actually are.
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is Canada’s largest mental health teaching hospital and one of the world’s leading research centres in its field. With a dedicated staff of more than 5,000 physicians, clinicians, researchers, educators and support staff, CAMH offers outstanding clinical care to more than 38,000 patients each year. The organization conducts groundbreaking research, provides expert training to health care professionals and scientists, develops innovative health promotion and prevention strategies, and advocates on public policy issues at all levels of government. And through our Foundation, we’re working to raise tens of millions of additional dollars to fund new programs and research and augment services.
Myles Across Canada
Follow Myles’ run across Canada to raise funds for the Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), raise awareness of mental health struggles, and normalize conversations about them.
Articles About Myles Dininio
Daniel
Daniel is an extremely curious person, a wealth of random knowledge and facts. Extremely passionate about a vast array of interests ranging from health to history, science to athletics, everything culinary and the list goes on. Trust us, you would want to be on his team for Trivial Pursuit.
Daniel is also years into his battle with brain cancer. He experienced a seizure while on a Zoom call at work in late 2020 and quite literally, his life changed within minutes. After his operation he started to talk about his story but had always known it was more than just him. From then, More Than Our Story became a PROJECT that has evolved into the starting point it is today.
He has also since become a multiple time IRONMAN.
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