RunWalk4Patrick Family Fest event weekend is underway

The Patrick4Life Foundation’s big RunWalk4Patrick Family Fest event weekend is underway.

Friday kicked off with the annual Partici-Patrick ‘Day of Champions’ Friday at the Omischl sports complex followed by a Fitness Expo and pasta dinner at Algonquin high school today in advance of Sunday’s annual RunWalk4Patrick at Civic Square at Oak and Ferguson Streets.

The 7th Annual Day of Champions saw 2,000 elementary students from each school board wrap up the final leg of a the10-week program.

Each student had signed on to the program with the goal to complete a 42.2K marathon over a 10-week period during their in-class 20 minutes of daily physical activity while learning about HIV and AIDS.

The program run by the Patrick4Life Foundation is a program designed to promote student awareness of HIV by linking physical activity and healthy choices to character development, resulting in greater self-esteem and a sense of accomplishment.

The Patrick4Life Foundation was developed in honour of Patrick Fortin, a brave young man who contracted HIV/ AIDS at age 7 through tainted blood and died in 2001 at the age of 23.

Patrick had one wish that his legacy of hope for zero AIDS would continue through youth and education.

Fortin's wish was to educate and raise awareness, remove the stigma that surrounded the disease he was living with, and to find a cure,

Patrick's brother Richard Fortin says the fact that the North Bay area continues to rally to the cause keeps the wind in his sails to carry on and help make Patrick’s wish of zero AIDS a reality.



Sunday’s annual RunWalk4Patrick at Civic Square 7:30am.