Hurtin' for Haiti Relay from Winnipeg to Calgary - Leaving from Headingley, MB on July 17, 2010 at 7:00 a.m.

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Six runners, nine days, over 1300 km. How far would you go to help a disaster-stricken nation? Hurtin' for Haiti is the relay team that will run from Headingley to Calgary beginning July 17, 2010. The idea was originally conceived by Donovan Hale who has a family connection to Haiti, and a personal connection to natu ... ral disaster. Donovan was in Jamaica when a hurricane struck and it was an experience he will never forget.

Donovan knew he wanted to help when he realized that this year was going to be especially hard on the Haitian people. Haitians have not yet re-built after the earthquake struck in January, and now, without simple housing, many will have to face hurricane season without basic shelter. He had the concept of organizing a relay run from Winnipeg to Calgary and with that he came to the Manitoba Runners' Association looking for help. He had the plan, and he had made some contacts with sponsors, but needed help coming up with a team of runners and logistical support. He also wanted to know if it was even possible to organize such an undertaking on very short notice.

Usually, a trek like this, across three provinces, in nine days would require a year of preparation, and it could easily take longer than that. Donovan had considered, albeit briefly, delaying the run until August or even fall, but the need for shelter was not going to wait. Hurricane season was not going to go on hold, and he decided that it was better to act now, than to delay.


With the support of the MRA, and two board members committing to run, Hurtin' for Haiti was on! If you'd like to come to Headingley on July 17 to send off the Hurtin' for Haiti team of Donovan Hale, Chantal Denholm, Bill Diehl-Jones, James Slade, Neil Ternowetsky, and Wade Taylor, they will be leaving from Nick's Restaurant at 7:00 a.m.

To make a donation to Hurtin' for Haiti, please visit the MRA website at www.mraweb.ca; or the Mennonite Central Committee website, or see our webpage at www.hurtinforhaiti.weebly.com

James Slade and the Hurtin' for Haiti team

Hurtin' for Haiti (H4H) Runner Biographies

Bill Diehl-Jones

Bill Diehl-Jones (50) began running marathons eight years ago (23 so far), with one purpose: to get healthy enough so that he would live to see his children grow up. His other goals include running every continent, and to run ultra-marathons. He is a perennial marathon pace rabbit, and is a member of the Forks Marathon Group. He has run the marathon in under 3 hours, and believes his PB (personal best) is yet to come!

The H4H mission speaks to Bill in that, while growing-up in Jamaica , he witnessed what life was like for disadvantaged people living ‘on the edge'. He knows that, when a natural disaster occurs such as the Haitian earthquake of 2010, a desperate situation becomes one that is unimaginable. The chance to help through H4H was irresistible.

Wade Taylor

Wade Taylor (37) never considered himself a runner. The passion came later in life after returning from a violent tour in Afghanistan in 2008 as a gunfighter. Running to exhaustion became therapy just to be able to sleep at night. Something about running long distance ‘clicked' and he decided to run a 100km ultra-marathon earlier this year even before attempting a marathon (he finished!).

The drive to help H4H comes from his three awesome children; Hilary-Ann (14), Molly-Ann (8), and Jack (5) and being witness to the hardship and suffering children in third world countries endure during disasters, man-made or natural.

Chantal Denholm

Chantal Denholm (32) ran her 1st marathon last year after competing in triathlon, where she earned the title of female world champion in the athlete with a disability category in 2004. She qualified for and competed in able-bodied age-group world triathlon in 2008. Having grown up with one hand, she learned very early how to welcome and overcome challenges, and quickly developed a strong determination to push and break her limits.

Wanting to use this determination for something larger after watching a film on Ray Zahab (an endurance runner who ran the entire Sahara desert to raise funds for sustainable water projects), the H4H mission proposal was immediately appealing. Chantal can only imagine the degree of suffering Haitians have endured as a result of the earthquake, and she is all too familiar (through a sailing background) with the looming risks for further damage and suffering that lay ahead during hurricane season.

James Slade

James Slade (51) is an avid runner having completed 13 marathons including one Boston appearance. He has served as a volunteer for the Manitoba Runners' Association as president and helped with fund-raising events for several organizations. He is married with two children and Sal the wonder dog.

“I heard about Hurtin' for Haiti when Donovan Hale came to a meeting of the Manitoba Runners' Association. We heard his idea and we could see his vision for Haitian relief. Donovan brought the plan to our attention and I immediately thought that ‘I could do that...if only barely'. I decided to get involved and to complete the distance when I realized the level of commitment that Donovan had, and that he needed lots of help. I am 51 years old and I really don't know if I'll be able to meet this kind of challenge again. I hope I will, but one never knows. This year I am in good shape, and this kind of challenge is what I need to keep me motivated. I know it will be a very difficult run. I have never run this distance for 9 consecutive days so I know it will be painful, but I also know that somewhere in Haiti there is someone who will be hurting much more than I will!” The earthquake devastated the country, they have not yet re-built from that disaster and now it is hurricane season; it is time to help.

Donovan Hale

Donovan (57) has run 6 individual full marathons (with his first, the first Manitoba Marathon-1979, time: 3 hrs. 29 min 57 sec consequence of knee injury 5 miles from finish); 3 corporate marathon relays; 1- 10km (41min 49 sec).

Natural disasters became events Donovan learned to prepare for and “cope with” during his early childhood and into his teenage years. Up until the time he left his homeland of Jamaica for a new life in Winnipeg , hurricanes became for him a “seasonally adjusted” event, meaning they prepared for “The Season”, with the ever-present threat of an earthquake. Donovan experienced one major earthquake when he was about 6 years of age, and the images of collapsed buildings, death and despair all around have etched indelible impressions on him since! When the devastating earthquake occurred in Haiti in January of this year, in a surreal way the heartrending images of a desperate people, their unimaginable loss, their suffering resurfaced, although at significantly different levels. He immediately felt a desire to “do something” for the victims; something more than a “few dollars” of donation, something charitably significant and vicarious enough to actually give the sense of “pain”. To truly impart “we feel your pain”, the idea of Hurtin' for Haiti was born!

Neil Ternowetsky

Neil Ternowetsky (27) began running roughly six years ago just for the sake of running. Today Neil has completed four marathons and uses his body as his primary means of transportation.

In the winter of 2008, Neil traveled to Tanzania to work in a community development project for the remote Mghumbu village. Experiencing the generosity and camaraderie of people who have far more real struggles than Neil will ever face opened his eyes to the world. When the opportunity to join H4H arose, Neil couldn't help but to throw himself at the opportunity to play his part.