The 4th Brett Pearson Run for Your Life
September 27, 2014 – 9 AM to 1 PM Town Square, 15 Mill Street, Carleton Place, ON
The Carleton Place Drug Strategy Committee and the Carleton Place BIA are coming together once again to raise awareness about the issues of Suicide and Mental health, with a 5.0 km walk/run.
The Brett Pearson Run for Your Life fundraiser will take place from 9 AM to 1 PM on Saturday September 27th.. This event is held in memory of Carleton Place student, Brett Pearson, who lost his life to suicide when he was 16. Participants have the option of a 5 km walk or 5 km run. The starting point is at the Carleton Place Town Square. The walk/run is sponsored by the Carleton Place Drug Strategy Committee and the Carleton Place BIA. This is your chance to join friends and family to help raise money for Suicide and Mental health, two issues that affect 1 in 5 Canadian adults. This year’s event will be supporting the Canadian Armed Forces, military personnel, veterans with regard towards mental illness, depression, PTSD, suicide as they try to understand the causes of the many suicides occurring recently in the military. One of the goals of the event this year Pearson said “is to create awareness to the traumas, pains and disorders such as PTSD that military personnel suffer from upon return from their assignments.” Master Cpl. Jody Mitic, retired from the Canadian Armed Forces has been secured as the keynote speaker for the 4th Brett Pearson Run for Your Life fundraiser. Mitic will share personal connections with mental health, PTSD and suicide and how it has touched his life. Since stepping on a landmine in Afghanistan in 2007 and losing both legs below the knee, Jody Mitic has challenged himself in numerous ways. There have been 5K runs, a half marathon and The Amazing Race Canada. For all of them, the former Canadian Forces sniper says he’s applied a similar logic. “We decided to just go for it,” says Mitic, who completed the race with his younger brother Cody. “I approach most things like, ‘I’ll worry about it when it happens.’” During weeks of filming of the reality show, which aired on CTV in July 2013, Mitic said the philosophy paid off during his “biggest challenge” yet. “I surprised myself. There’s nobody more surprised by some of the things I pulled off than me,” said Mitic. “Some of what I thought were my limits, I can actually go a lot further.” Rather than dwelling on his injuries from 2007, Mitic said he found his military training helpful, because it taught him to work in small groups, run on little sleep, keep going and adapt to situations as they changed. “That was a lot more useful to me than what happened one night when I was on patrol,” said Mitic, now a motivational speaker. “That was just one night in my life where I stepped on a landmine.” In 2009, Mitic was posted to Ottawa and qualified as a Public Affairs NCM. In 2011 he founded the Never Quit Foundation, www.neverquitfoundation.ca, a charitable organization dedicated to assisting other veterans injured in the line of duty. Mitic recently entered politics to run for public office in Ottawa in the October 2014 elections.
Parade of Life: Walkers and runners will be led by a parade headed by Brett’s mother Nicole and Brett’s brother Dennis leading the way. The parade will travel down Bridge Street in Carleton Place. Entertainment at the event will be local.
Kiosk Opportunities: Healthcare and volunteer organizations are invited to host display booths offering opportunities for the public to learn more about resources available for those at risk or in need. Registration: Registration is being handled by Events Online. To register, simply visit http://www2.eventsonline.ca/site/events and in the event search box type in “Brett Pearson” to access the link to the registration site. Individual registration fees for the 5 km walk/run are $20 before June 30, $25 from July 1 to August 31 and $30 afterwards until the day of the event. Team Challenge: challenge is being issued and participants are encouraged to sign up in teams, either as a group or as a family, schools, or even work colleagues. The cost per person in a team is $15 before June 30, $20 from July 1 to August 31 and $25 afterwards till the day of the event.
Pledges: Those looking to print a pledge sheet can do so from the website www.cpdrugstrategy.com. Those unable to attend the walk/run, but wishing to make a donation may do so by visiting any Scotiabank branch in Carleton Place, Ottawa, Kanata and Stittsville and indicating their donation is for the Brett Pearson Memorial Run c/o The Town of Carleton Place or they can mail a cheque payable to the same fund name to the Town of Carleton Place, 175 Bridge St., Carleton Place, On. K7C 2V8.
Event day: Register at Town Square from 8:30 AM to 10 AM on September 27th. Race kits will be available to those registered on-line and the morning of the event, complete with lunch ticket and more. The first 300 registrants will receive t-shirts. Volunteers are also being sought to help out at the registration site and at the Mississippi River Walk Trail. Please contact us through our website.
Nicole Pearson, Brett’s mother says; “All the money (raised) is turned back into our community to help members of the Canadian Armed Forces and citizens suffering from mental illness, depression and substance abuse/misuse. Contact: Nicole Pearson at [email protected] Visit our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/BrettPearsonRunForYourLife. For more information please visit the website listed above and www.downtowncarletonplace.com .