On Saturday, Ontario’s Myles Dininio completed a five-and-a-half-month journey across Canada, spanning more than 7,000 kilometres and raising more than $50,000 for The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). Beginning on April 1 in St. John’s, N.L., and finishing in Vancouver on Aug. 22, Dininio posted daily updates on Instagram, documenting his own mental (and physical) health throughout the demanding yet rewarding task.
His support team included his wife, Jessica Dininio, and their two children, Oliver and Florence, who followed along in a van for much of the run.
Running for charity
Dininio covered 7,447 kilometres to raise funds for CAMH, but the 40-year-old says the run was about more than the distance. It was also about opening up conversations around mental health.
“I am running to raise awareness and money for mental health,” Dininio told Canadian Running, “to normalize the conversation about it, not hide it from anyone.”
Dininio shared daily updates on his Instagram and Facebook pages, MylesAcrossCanada, with links to his fundraising page available on both platforms. He set a goal of raising $50,000 and reached it on the final day, finishing the 147-day trek with $50,626 raised.
Myles Dininio posing with Terry Fox statue during run across Canada for CAMH. Photo courtesy of Myles Dininio
“I’ve chosen to dedicate this run to CAMH, Canada’s leading mental health hospital,” Dininio said on his fundraising page. “One in five Canadians experiences mental illness in any given year, and more than 4,000 Canadians die by suicide annually, nearly eleven people every day.”
Dininio has also been open about his own struggles with mental health and the work he does to manage them. For him, the run was about more than covering thousands of kilometres; it was about the unseen effort required to keep moving forward despite the challenges.
“The journey has been a real rollercoaster ride with lots of highs and even more lows,” Dininio said. “Running for mental health while testing my own to the max. There were challenges every single day.”
Mixed emotions
This wasn’t Dininio’s first cross-country journey. In 2004, at 18, he cycled from Mount Albert, Ont., to Nelson, B.C. This time, he made the journey on foot, pushing himself through five months of changing weather, physical pain and mental challenges. Sporting a Bubba Gump Shrimp hat along the way, the Forrest Gump cross-country inspiration helped him along the way.
Myles Dininio’s Bubba Gump Shrimp hat during run across Canada for CAMH. Photo courtesy of Myles Dininio
As he approached the finish, Dininio described being in considerable pain, but also surprised by how difficult it would be to say goodbye to the experience.
“I’m 146 days in right now, and I can run, but I can barely walk,” Dininio said. “I spent so many hours alone on the hard shoulder trying to keep my mind at ease, and I’m not sure how it’s going to feel to complete the run. I’m tired and want to go home, and I’ve had that feeling for a while now, but on the other hand, I don’t want it to end.”
When Dininio started the Journey in St. John’s, he filled a jar with seawater. When he entered the ocean-side Stanley Park in Vancouver and came face to face with the Pacific Ocean 147 days after leaving the Atlantic, he filled a second jar. The two jars bookended the journey, but he says the conversation around mental health that inspired the run continues.
Myles Dininio during run across Canada for CAMH. Photo courtesy of Myles Dininio
“When it all started, all I was looking for was my 2 jars of water, and I found those and so much more,” Dininio said on Instagram. “One thing I found is my voice, and I’d like to use it to thank y’all again. The support, the love, people staying with me and letting me know they are there. That’s the stuff that kept me going, and this isn’t the end—a closing chapter, sure.”