Travelling the 6,000 kilometre wide landscape that is the Great White North is a daunting journey along the Trans Canada highway, but Dylan Gray has taken it to an entirely different level in his decision to cross the country on foot—and without any support car.
Gray, so far, has traversed over 1,500 kilometres on foot as of his 51st day—which lead him through North Bay.
“I sold everything I had pretty much and wanted to give back as much as I could,” the Winnipeg-born-and-raised adventurer said. “I had been living in Calgary for the past ten-plus years before flying to Halifax.”
For Gray, it was all about giving back and making sure his actions were in support of a cause. Pledging his support for the Against Malaria Foundation, he updates his journey and encourages others to support the cause on his blog.
Gray’s days, which average 12-hour runs across the landscape, are much more challenging than the already physically straining task. Not only does he not use a support car—a supporter driving with him from checkpoint to checkpoint, carrying his supplies and being there for emergencies—but Gray also carries and carts his own supplies with him as he cross the expanse.
“I usually do around 12 hours on the highway, whereas (Saturday) I was only 30 kilometres away from North Bay,” he said. “These short days are nice, but they don’t come around too often.”
Gray said these short days were important for his body, because when he had originally planned, he quickly realised how unrealistic it would be for him to adhere to 60 kilometres a day.
“As I went I found plans are hard to follow as you follow your body instead. If you do 60 kilometres a day nonstop, you’ll start to run into road blocks where your body just stops,” he said.
“I’ve also found it less stressful not being worried all the time about making those deadlines and it’s a lot easier on my body.”
At his current pace, Gray hopes to reach the Pacific coast by November, before the snows make the Rocky Mountains a hazard for him to cross.
“Having to run through torrential downpours has been hard enough,” he said.
“I can’t even imagine how difficult it would be to deal with all the ice going through the Rockies.”
“There have been times,” Gray explained, “when I asked myself, ‘what had I done.’ I was sleeping beneath a bridge off the highway and I couldn’t sleep because transport trucks were zooming by and spiders kept biting at me and I didn’t know what to do. Another time, my tires on my stroller had blown and I had run out of spares, but I lucked out with strangers passing by helping me.”
Gray said the experience so far has been incredibly eye-opening, both with self-exploration and recognizing the kindness in others.
“I feel so much stronger as a person now,” he said. “And when people hear my story and want to do something to help or give their support, I can see the generosity in their eyes.”
With a journey that began on June 24 with him dipping his head in the Atlantic Ocean, Gray won’t stop until he’s done the same on the Pacific, his journey complete and his mind ready to focus on his next challenge in life.
