Kelowna women training for 500 km barefoot run

Savannah Holmes and Asha Tremblay of Kelowna are about to embark on a difficult journey. The two will be running 500 kilometres, without any footwear, end-to-end across Vancouver Island in support of empowering youth in Uganda.

Holmes spent five years living in Uganda as a teenager, and her experiences there left her wanting to give back. In February, she and her longtime friend Tremblay created a donation page to support Enhance Humanity Uganda, a leadership education program.

“For us, it's more about empowering and enabling them to just go out and have the necessary skills and education as well as confidence to be entrepreneurs and initiate things,” said Holmes.

Running barefoot for 500 kilometres will be, obviously, extremely difficult, so the two have been training hard.

“We’ve had 100 days of training, and we’ve been working with professionals, all of which are in Kelowna, keeping it very local, and yeah, we’re just getting ready to head out on June 21.”

They plan on running more than a marathon a day, giving themselves a little over a week to reach their goal.

Training, seeing professionals, and eating properly for the last several months has been a routine for Holmes and Tremblay, but they’re asking Kelowna residents to join them for the last 10 kilometres of the journey, just to capture a small glimpse of what it will be like, and to raise more awareness.

They are inviting anyone who wants to run the "final 10 kilometres" between Mission Creek and downtown Kelowna, planning a stop in City Park at 6:30 p.m. on June 28.

For those who want to join the run, you’re encouraged to meet at Mission Creek at 5:30 p.m. on June 28. It should take about an hour to complete the 10 kilometre run to City Park.

If you’d also like to make a donation to the children in Uganda, click here. Your donations will go towards expanding the children's learning facility, opening a lunch program, securing a safe house, and covering operational costs for the staff.