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I’m not doing this race for time.

I'm not doing it for distance.

I'm doing it for my dad.

Three years ago, I lost him to complications from COVID. But if you knew him, you'd know that's not how I remember him. I remember a man who spent his life showing up when people needed him most.

Before anything else, he was a worker. Construction wasn't just a job, it was who he was. Long days, hard hands, and the kind of grit you don't talk about, you just live. He built things. Solid things. The kind that last.

But what defined him wasn't just what he built, it was who he protected.

For about 20 years, he served as a reserve deputy sheriff in Los Angeles County. He didn't have to do that. He thing to. He chose to put on that badge and stand in the gap for others. And later, he carried that same calling into becoming a volunteer firefighter and EMT. Again, not for the paycheck. Not for recognition. Just because that's who he was.

He showed up.

That's the legacy I carry with me into this walk.

Every step I take is for the man who ran toward danger when others ran away. For the man who gave his time, his strength, and his heart to complete strangers without asking for anything in return. For the man who taught me, without ever saying it out loud, what it means to serve.

This event supports the Quebec Firefighters Association, and I've set a goal to raise $250 in his honor. It's not a huge number, but it's a start. A way to give back to people who live the same kind of life he did.

And yeah… there's another layer to this for me.

I'm in the middle of my own fight right now. A weight loss journey, a health journey, a “figure my life out one step at a time” journey. A year ago, I wouldn't have even considered signing up for something like this. But here I am.

Not because it's easy.

Because it matters.

Because he mattered.

So when I cross that finish line, it won't be about how fast I got there. It'll be about who got me there.

Him.

Always him.