British man on cross-Canada charity run takes on the Rockies

Jamie McDonald has been running for 275 days.

The 27-year-old British man is making his way across Canada on foot — without a support crew — to raise money for children's hospitals in each province he runs through, and for two care centres back home in England.

As a child McDonald was in and out of hospitals, suffering from a rare spinal condition that weakened his immune system.

Now he wears a superhero costume — the Flash — complete with a customized cape as he braves frigid temperatures and unforgiving hills to complete his journey.

"I'm trying to show people that we can do absolutely anything we want to do, and superheroes is a great character for it and the kids absolutely love it."

All the money McDonald raises while running through this province will go to the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Nine months and more than 7,000 kilometres into his cross-country run, McDonald has so far raised about $100,000.

But the progress has come at a high personal cost, including chronic tendonitis.

“I’m surviving off four, five hours of sleep a night, and then I need to try and run nearly a full marathon every single day," he said. 

As he made his way west into the daunting Rockies on Sunday with an aching body and facing a fierce headwind, McDonald said he’s still convinced it’s worth it.

"I finally found something that makes a difference to other people's lives. So it doesn't matter how much I suffer, there are so many people out there, including children, that are in a worse state than I am."

To follow McDonald all the way to his finish line in Vancouver, check out his website.