Josh Sloan is on a mission, and he doesn’t want a flood to slow him down.
The 27-year-old from Surrey, BC, who lives with Down Syndrome, crossed the finish line of the 160km run for charity on Saturday. His journey lasted two months, during which he ran about 20 kilometers per week.
He had planned to donate $20,000 to the Canadian Cancer Society in September as a tribute to his close friend Debbie Kovacs.
Kovacs is a former Sloan special education teacher at Surrey’s Simon Cunningham Primary School. The two remained close after Sloan transitioned into high school and into adulthood, until Kovacs died of cancer six years ago.
“Mrs. Debbie Kovacs has always loved running with me. We always started from school all the way up here in Bear Creek,” he told CTV National News. “I still miss her very much.”
With Josh on Saturday was the Kovacs family, including Dustin, Debbie’s son.
“She was clearly living in that young man,” he told CTV National News. “Everything she stands for, everything she believes in, everything she tries to impress the world with lives in that young man’s soul.”
Sloan has so far raised $14,000 in its total goal. Donations can be made through his fundraiser on the Canadian Cancer Society website.
With files from CTV Vancouver’s Ben Nesbit
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