This year will mark the tenth annual and last NYE run hosted by 'Marathon Man,' Martin Parnell.

Spending the last decade organizing the family-friendly run while benefitting youth has been a priority to Parnell. 

As he approached year ten, Parnell, along with his wife Sue, thought it would be a good time to call it quits. "This is the tenth and final run/walk. There is just a time to stop, and if I was going to do it, it just seemed the tenth was the ideal time. We have had a wonderful time."

While much will remain the same for his final run, Martin is bringing his fundraising effort home to Cochrane rather than supporting an international initiative.

Passionate about helping youth, Martin's decision to support the Boys and Girls Club of Cochrane and Area 'The Club' is exceptionally fitting. "We are bringing it home; before the runs supported Right to Play, a playground in Tanzania, and Free to Run for the girls and women in Afghanistan. We have done it for the world, and now we are bringing it back to Cochrane, specifically for The Club to support programs for teens in this area. We wanted to support something locally as we have invested in the kids globally, and the Boys and Girls Club seemed the obvious one. It is an organization that supports the kids in Cochrane when they needed it, so it was a very straight forward decision."

With news of this being the last run/walk hosted on NYE by Parnell, he is hopeful it drives more community members to come out and participate. Looking to raise ten thousand dollars in support of The Club, Parnell is looking at hosting a training camp to get families and individuals ready. "We want to get more people involved and get the kids out. We are going to have a running club so the kids and parents can start training and build up. We have usually been getting around 120 to 130 out, and we are hoping to see 300. Let's get everyone out and have a super sendoff, and raise ten thousand dollars in support of the Boys and Girls Club."

Jill Bilodeau, Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Club of Cochrane and Area, says The Club continues to attract more and more youth. "Since the beginning of school, we have steadily seen our numbers increase. We are looking at opening late on Friday's until seven or eight, and possibly closing on Monday. We have a poll out to the teens to see what they prefer. We find that Mondays are lower in numbers, but our Fridays are booming, and sometimes we find the teens aren't quite ready to leave by six."

Seeing an increase in younger teens is something, Bilodeau and the staff of The Club, are happy to see. "There was a time when the thirteen-year-olds mostly just wanted to be by themselves. At thirteen, they want to be independent; they didn't want to go anywhere or didn't want to do anything because up until the age of twelve, they are in after school care programming. So we saw a gap, and we are starting to see them come back, which is great."

With the youth space not generating revenue, support from events like Parnell's run is critical for The Club's longterm success. "It is imperative for us to have these types of fundraisers because we have to find ways to offset costs."

The money raised from the NYE run will go to support general programming costs specific to the Club. 

Kicking off Parnell's fundraising efforts, Meredith McMorran of Footstock presented a 1,000 dollar cheque to Parnell and Bilodeau, which they were grateful to receive. 

If you would like to join the November training camp to get ready to run your way into 2020, contact the Boys and Girls Club of Cochrane and Area at www.bgccochrane.ca.

To follow Parnell's fundraising efforts or to donate to the NYE Run, go HERE.