Ultra-marathoner Dave Proctor wrapped up his cross-country run in Victoria on Thursday.
“Way to go buddy!” crowds cheered. “Yay!”
Proctor made history when he made it to the Terry Fox statue at Mile Zero in Beacon Hill Park, smashing a previous world record for running across Canada.
“I feel like I’m top of the world. I’m feeling so blessed to have this opportunity, and grateful,” he said.
He started the last leg of his run on Thursday morning with a 34-kilometre trek from the Swartz Bay ferry terminal to downtown Victoria.
“I feel like I’m so excited to get this over and done with,” Proctor told CHEK News.
It all began on May 15 along the Trans Canada Highway in Newfoundland after Proctor dipped his running shoe into the water.
Every day since, he’s run the equivalent of 2.5 marathons, or 12 hours of running each day for 67 days.
“I’m just so proud of myself, I was able to do this, 106 kilometres a day for 67 days in a row,” said Proctor.
“It surprised me.”
In 1991, Duncan’s Al Howie set the previous world record after running across the country in 72 days and 10 hours.
Lana Ledene is Proctor’s girlfriend and was his key support during his run, saying that Thursday culminates years of training.
“This has been a lifelong dream of Dave’s to run across Canada in record time,” said Ledene.
Every morning, Proctor would get up at 4 a.m. and eat oatmeal for breakfast before hitting the road.
He’s gone through 12 pairs of running shoes and consumes about 9,000 calories a day.
And according to Ledene, he never cuts corners on his running.
“The last couple of weeks, he’s come in and I’ve thought he’ll say, ‘I’m going to cut it short today. I’m in pain.'” she added.
“But he just never does. Everyone thinks his superpowers are his legs. But I don’t. It’s his mind.”
After the congratulations from a large crowd of family and friends, Proctor said he just wants to find a park bench and rest for a while.
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