Terrace’s Joe Pelletier turned out to be the second fastest Canadian at a recent race in New Orleans, Louisiana and contributed to a good cause along the way.
Charity runner Pelletier initially had goals of being the fastest Canadian at the international 10km Crescent City Classic race in New Orleans but a nagging leg injury slowed his training.
It didn’t slow the 40-year-old’s charity drive though. Pelletier, a glaucoma patient, raised $1,870 for the Canadian Institute for the Blind.
This is Pelletier’s second year running for charity. Last year he raised $1,600 for the Michael J. Fox Foundation.
The race began at the Superdome, travelled through the French Quarter and past the Mississippi before ending in an oak tree-filled park where the crowd sang the first few bars of O Canada while he crossed the finish line.
His time of 45:54 was nearly what he expected – two minutes slower than his personal best.
“Figured 46 and hoped for 45,” he said. “Totally bottlenecked in first kilometre and that cost me 30-40 seconds. Humid air was something I’m not used to either, though it cooled off considerably for the race start.”
