Race Against Darkness Supporting Mental Health

Thursday, 10 April 2025 at 05:36

It's a 152 kilometre trek from CAMI in Ingersoll to the St. Catharines GM plant.

INGERSOLL/ST. CATHARINES - He's running from Ingersoll to St. Catharines to help shine a light on mental health.

AJ Howard works at CAMI and is a member of Unifor Local 88.

He's part of the Race Against Darkness, so he will set off on a 152 kilometre journey from CAMI in Ingersoll to the St. Catharines GM plant, but he won't be alone.

"We're going to have a send off at CAMI and some people have volunteered to bike the entire way with us to support us. Some people are going to run 5K, 10K or 20K and then the same thing will happen on the back end with the St. Catharines GM plant. They will have people meeting us half way and running the last 10 kilometres as well."

The trek should take about 26 to 30 hours, starting on 7:30 a.m. on Saturday May 23rd and ending sometime on Sunday May 24th.

They will be joined by the OPP and CAMI's Bright Drop Community Cruiser. Howard says they will also stick to backroads for the most part.

"We're not running on any highways. We're trying to avoid all of the busy streets so if we need to step aside, pull out a lawn chair, sit down, rest our legs, have a quick bite to eat and change our shoes and socks we'll be safe. We are looking at the possibility of cutting through Brantford, Hamilton and St. Catharines and possibly stopping at some dealerships but it's still a work in progress."

Howard says the journey will be livestreamed through the Race Against Darkness Instagram page for those who want to follow along.

Special t-shirts are also being sold to help support the cause and you can purchase one online here. Tanja Lakic, another CAMI employee and Member of Unifor Local 88, says you'll get something extra when you're shirt arrives.

"A green lightbulb comes with these shirts, so the idea is to shine this green bulb in your homes for the month of May to raise awareness for mental health. So everybody is getting a green bulb when they buy these shirts."

The Race Against Darkness is in partnership with the Buddy Up campaign. You can find more information and donate to the cause online here.

AJ Howard, Tanja Lakic, and Alex McCoy stopped by the Heart FM studio to chat with Dan and Marcie on Wednesday April 8th. You can listen to the full interview below: