I turn 50 years old in a few months. Today (Friday), my legs turned 100 - or so it felt.
Yet it was unfathomable for me to wallow even remotely in self pity as I repeatedly glanced to my left while plodding up Port Moody's insanely steep, 1.9-km Thermal Drive to watch HIM, his hands gripping and arms thrusting in Herculean fashion the two wheels on his chair; his head craning forward with a grimace like a sailor fighting gale-force winds; and his steely, competitive eyes focused tightly on the top of this hellacious hill, whose end seemed like it might never come.
I strode amid hundreds upon hundreds of other Rick Hansen relay supporters, keeping pace as best I could with the Man in Motion, who prefers to call this, the 25th anniversary of his initial astounding cross-Canada journey of 1987, Many in Motion.
As one older gentleman remarked to another in the early stages of the journey, "Rick Hansen's going up Thermal... my car doesn't even make it up Thermal."
There were times when the hill's grade lessened a tad and a still-pressing Rick would smile at his supporters, or even chat briefly with a worshipping onlooker as he wheeled past.
There were other moments when the crowd - anxious school kids, camera-toting citizens and pushy media - consumed me and I lost track of Rick, only to discover shortly after I was looking in the wrong direction. Rick was now AHEAD of me.
Ryan Sclater, the six-foot-seven basketball star from Terry Fox secondary school, was the chosen medal bearer who met Hansen at the intersection of Mohawk and Thermal for a quick stop to say hello and photo shoot before the uphill grind continued.
"It's awesome," Sclater told The Tri-City News just prior to greeting Hansen. "It's such a cool feeling to be part of something that's so much bigger than you. Everyone's happy for me but it's not about me, it's about what Rick has done and all of us coming together."
Sclater added he only recently discovered that Hansen and Terry Fox - the one-legged Marathon of Hope hero whose the namesake of the PoCo high school he attends - became good friends when the two young men were struggling with the lack of funding available to aid those with similar disabilities.
"I found it really cool to know they were friends and hung out together," Sclater, 17, said. "They both went on to do so much amazing things... Wow."
Wow, indeed.
As I continued the climb, my thighs began to burn, my calves tightened and, at one point, I lost my runner when an eager youngster accidentally stepped on my heel. It was OK. I needed the break I got when I stopped to tie my shoe.
And finally, roughly 30 minutes from the start, it was over. Then the Man in Motion himself, looking as fresh and fine-tuned as ever, wheeled on to a podium to ecstatic applause and shouts of "Way to go, Rick!" and, eventually, was handed the mic.
"This is exactly the same as it was 25 years ago... beautiful weather, amazing people," Rick said. "Except it's not one Man in Motion, it's Many in Motion. We all did it together.
"Let's keep going, thank you."
Sure, we'll do it again, Rick. Just say when.
