Teacher battles injuries during marathons to protest Bill 22
Posted August 22, 2012 8:16 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
NORTH VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – How does it feel when you’re in the middle of 22 marathons in 22 days? Ask Ian Cunliffe; the primary school teacher and librarian from North Vancouver is running across much of the province to protest Bill 22 and a decade of cuts to education.
“I’m battling a lot of injuries at the moment. I’ve got a pretty severe Achilles tendon problem in my left foot, so this should be a very interesting climb this morning” says Cunliffe as he slowly he makes his way up Richter Pass on Highway 3 outside Osoyoos. “But I’m in a great mood and we keep on moving forward. The pace may be glacial but, like a glacier, I’m unstoppable.”
Cunliffe, an experienced ultra-marathoner, is running for the kids he serves every day. He says they deserve better.
“Fatigue is something you can work through, it’s between your ears for the most part. I’m starting to get into potential for real injury but, you know, there are 101 reasons why a person can quit. You have to have one good reason to keep going and I’ve got that reason,” he maintains.
Cunliffe is also hoping to draw attention to drastic cuts to libraries in many school districts. “In schools across the province, we are killing school libraries.”
“Funding is being clawed back year after year. The more I talk to people across BC, the more I’m hearing this is the new policy; school libraries and teacher librarians are on their way out. If there’s all this public talk about a commitment to literacy and getting kids to read, why are we putting schools and districts at the point where they feel they have no choice but to close the doors of their libraries?”
Cunliffe started his 22 marathons on August 8th in Sparwood and, with a couple of rest days, plans to make it to the Lower Mainland by the end of the month.
You can follow his progress on Facebook.
