To recount the epic tales of Adventureman would take more lines than this humble article can provide.
Fortunately, the daring hero, probably using his super speed and with some help from as his alter ego, Jamie McDonald, has compiled a book of his adventures, titled “Adventureman: Anyone can be a Superhero.”
The tome chronicles McDonald’s Guinness world record, his solo run across Canada, his solo bike from the Pacific to the Atlantic from Asia to Europe and his childhood diagnosis of a rare condition that should have put in him a wheelchair for life.
McDonald shared some of Adventureman’s story with students at SIS and Athena Consolidated Schools in Summerside on Friday.
His message to the kids mirrored the title of his book: Anyone can be a super hero.
“Never giving up, finding more within themselves and getting them to believe they can achieve whatever they want in life,” said McDonald.
Athena student, Deirdra Studer, certainly appreciated the message.
“It was awesome, very inspirational,” she said after McDonald’s presentation to her school.
“Not many people have the courage and determination to run all across Canada. It sends such a strong message.”
McDonald is back in Canada doing motivational speeches for young people and promoting his book, which is a bestseller in the U.K. where he is originally from Gloucester.
In 2014 McDonald ran from Newfoundland and Labrador to B.C. on his own. He wore a costume of the DC speedster superhero The Flash during one particularly grueling leg of his journey in which he was on his way to visit sick kids in Southern Ontario.
The super hero motif stuck and he eventually held a contest where kids submitted design for his own super alter ego.
He will also be conducting a book signing at Chapters Indigo in Charlottetown on Saturday, Dec. 9, at 10 a.m. This event is free and open to the public.
Half of the profits from his Summerside presentations will go to a the nearest local children’s hospital, and the other 50 per cent will go to McDonald’s charity, the Superhero Foundation. Every penny made goes to charity.
To find out more about McDonald, go to his website at www.jamiemcdonald.org.
@JournalPMacLean
