Ronald McDonald and a whole bunch of kids burst form the starting line in the sixth annual Rock the House Run in support of Ronald McDonald House Southern Alberta, in Calgary, Alberta, on September 23, 2012. Around a thousand kids and families showed up for the run at Market Mall.
photo by MIKE DREW/CALGARY SUN/QMI AGENCY
by CARL JOHNSON SPECIAL TO THE SUN
Ronald McDonald rocked northwest Calgary Sunday for the Ronald McDonald House event Rock the House Run, which featured a 5 km race that the famous clown ran to raise cash.
The yellow and red-clad icon was pitted against Larry Mathieson, executive director of Ronald McDonald House for southern and central Alberta, which Mathieson managed to win with time to spare.
“I beat Ronald by nine minutes,” said Mathieson.
“Although to be fair, Ronald stopped several times to talk with people who were watching the race along the route.
“Between the two of us racing one another we raised an extra $6,000 for (Ronald McDonald House).”
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The family-oriented event was presented by Apache Corporation and saw well over 1,000 people lace up their sneakers for a good cause.
The run aims to raise awareness and funds for the 38-year-old Ronald McDonald House institution, which now has more than 305 houses around the globe providing a welcome place to stay for families seeking medical treatment far from home.
“So far we have raised more than $100,000 for the Ronald McDonald houses this year,” said Kelly Knight, communications coordinator for Ronald McDonald Houses.
“We still have pledges coming in all the time and this year has been our best year yet with the amount of people that showed up as well as how much money was raised.”
The event also attracted some big-name help, including three-time U.S. Olympian and 2010 Olympic gold medal-winning bobsledder Steve Mesler, Canadian Idol finalist Jason Greeley, and Hurricane Felix, a Calgary rockabilly band.
“We were really excited about all the … celebrities that showed up today,” said Mathieson.
“Many of them used social-media like Twitter to tweet their activities for the Houses event and that added an additional strand of support for us.”