Williams Lake resident and runner Leo Rankin ran a 109-lap marathon around the Williams Lake Secondary School track Saturday, June 23 to help raise money for ALS.
He finished in four hours and 50 minutes — just in time to join members of the community for the first Walk for ALS Saturday in Boitanio Park.
Rankin was running as part of Team Rankin in remembrance of his brother, Ron Rankin, who passed away from the disease three years ago.
“The track marathon is just a means to an end,” Rankin said.
“The really great thing is that we raised $1,545 for the Walk for ALS, which was the objective.”
He said Lynn Ann Cheverie and Leah Johnson helped him raise around $500 more through ice cream sales and collecting spare change.
“We’ve been impacted by ALS and it is important to work toward finding a cure for this lethal disease,” he said.
“The support from the community was wonderful — particularly from the people working in the Government Resource Building in forestry, environment, agriculture and other government sections.”