Happy Canada Day ... and ... Simon Still Says

Day two of Riley's commitment to HBC was to participate in the HBC Run For Athletes on Canada Day. We figured that his hourly rate when down from one thousand an hour to five hundred as we had another five hour stint ahead of us. Up at 6:45, we were down at the start line at 7:30 helping the 500 runners warm up. Well actually Riley and several other Olympic athletes were, I was on the sidelines taking pictures.

One of the participating athletes was Riley's mentor and friend Olympic Gold Medalist Simon Whitfield. It was lovely to see Simon again - he did a double take when he saw Riley - they first started doing promotional appearances together when Riley was about eight. I took a picture of the two of them posing the same way they did seven years ago!

A special guest at the run was new grandma and a fellow "mom" Linda Whitfield. It was nice to spend time with her and it was easy to understand why Simon is the amazingly thoughtful man he is. I told Linda the story of Simon giving Riley his gold medal to take home for the weekend and she wasn't surprised. Well done Mrs W - your boy continues to inspire.

I spent the whole morning with Riley as he went from one event to another, warm up, awarding medals, running in the kids race with some of the kids and finally, speaking to the crowd on the "big stage" representing all the athletes. That was actually Simon's job but he designated it to Riley!

It was a really cool day as Riley seemed not to mind having his mom to hang with - we even took a break and drove over to our new condo (only three more weeks until we move) and marvelled at how nice it will be. It was another good day as Riley's mom.