If there’s somebody who says, “I will run after my dreams,” and actually does it, then repeats it year after year, that person will most likely be this lady.
Meet Veronique Bourbeau, a Canadian who is currently living in Singapore with her family. To express her gratitude to the beautiful country of Singapore, Veronique will run 250km around the entire country in a single stage, on 15 December 2017.
Veronique hopes that the running community in Singapore would join her and run together. She believes that,
“Running is sharing together a sport that we love, celebrate humanity and go beyond our limits at the same time. I wish to spread those thoughts as much as I can and find runners and supporters along the way.”
If you want to be a part of something bigger than yourself, why not join Veronique on this probably-once-in-a-lifetime adventure? Even if you’re not an ultra-marathon or marathon runner, it doesn’t matter. Join her to be inspired by her dreams, to support her cause, to restore faith in human nature, and probably, to be changed for life.
Adventure Running is a Part of Her Life
In the summer of 2016, Veronique went to Japan to run 3010km in 72 days. That equals to 41.8km/day, almost a marathon a day. The self-supported expedition turned out to be a life-changing experience for her.
During those 72 days, Veronique’s daughter accompanied her on a bike. They slept in a tent, handled food, washing and all the necessary daily chores themselves.
Since the first day that I started running in Japan, I knew that I was meant to run the world. Along the way, I pushed my limits and I met extraordinary people. The Japanese community encouraged us, give us food and invited us to sleep in their house. I am still amazed by their hospitality, generosity and humanity.
I had the unique opportunity to connect with them, listen to them, and understand them. In return they made me feel like I belong to their community, it’s priceless. In Japan, I did not just run 3010km. Together with the Japanese people, we created an environment where we were ourselves sharing happiness and mixture of emotions with each other. In the end, I just realized that we had created an environment of simple and pure peace.
Run the Africa Continent
Veronique’s next craziest ambition is to run the entire Africa continent. She will run more than 13,000km from Alexandria to Cape Town in 1 year and 4 months.
Veronique is completely excited and ready to take on this challenge. Her team is more than ready to support her. She said,
No one can stop me to achieve it, Africa is still there, I have the capability to do it, I will do it, no matter what! This Africa run will be, for me, a unity run. Unity of all the people around the world regardless of where he comes from, or which socio-economical status he belongs to and of course, regardless of which religion he believes in. I wish to become the voice of all those people.
Why Veronique Runs
Veronique deeply believes that running is the best way to have a real connection with anyone.
“Because when you run, you cannot cheat, you cannot lie with the others or even with yourself. You are only you, with your running shoes, without any make-up or pretence. Surrounded by the nature, you are yourself with the world, that’s it.”
When running, she feels that she is able to capture the best and the most intense moments in life with the best scenery that most people may have never seen in their life.
I am glad to think that during this journey, I will not be just a traveller who comes and goes, but I will belong (even if it’s for a short moment) to the community of the people that I meet. I want to eat the same food as them, listen to their stories, laugh with them and understand their fears or their hopes without any judgements.
Doing so, I wish to bring to my audience a speech of peace. Because when you reach a real connection with people and when you can share it with others, the magic and the transformation happen. It’s this experience that I want to build and share with the world because together I know that we can create a better world.
If you share the same dreams and beliefs as Veronique, tell her you’ll be joining her on 15 December 2017!
Do you believe when Steve Jobs said, “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do”?
