PROFILE
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On the run with Kid Flash GREGGCHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
ORLÉANS | His mum calls him “Mini-Me” with pride and affection. He loves to“Hulk out” when he goes green in costume for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade to help the lo- cal food bank. But if Luis-Eduardo Grijalva ever does get superpowers, the odds are pretty good that he will be a red blur rac- ing down the streets as fast as the Flash. At seven years old he already knows what he wants to be. “Maybe I’m going to be a military doctor,” he said, “or just an ordinary doctor. Because I like helping people.” To many Canadian athletes training for world-class and Olympic Games competi- tions, Grijalva is already a hero in their eyes because he champions the Canadian Ath- letes Now Fund (CANF). The fund supports the nation’s up-and-coming amateur ath- letes with their training programs. Every year since he began running in the Ottawa Marathon, Grijalva has been rais- ing money for the CANF. He’s been doing it since he was three. “Everybody was bigger than me, and ev- erybody saw me ready to run,” Grijalva said, recalling the first time he took part in the children’s event of the Ottawa Marathon. “He was half the size of anyone else,” said his father, Aaron Larsen, grinning. “The folks organizing the race didn’t realize how
young he was. They had him mixed in with the five- and six-year-olds. So they gave him a ‘second start’ two minutes after everyone set off, with a pace buddy to go with him.” Giving others a head start makes little dif- ference. Grijalva finishes ahead of the pack almost all the time, and does seem to be the fastest kid in the Ottawa area. “Last summer I was waiting at the mara- thon finish line,” Larsen said, “with my cam- era, and I was looking through the view- finder, and I still didn’t see him go past.”
Grijalva’s fundraising efforts have earned him applause from Canadian athletes like Olympic athlete Eric Gillis. The runner chat- ted with him during a past visit to Ottawa and autographed a photo which has now become a treasured possession for Grijalva. “It’s so great to have you on our team, Luis. Thank you for all the work.” Grijalva has had a goal of raising at least $20,000 for the CANF. So far over the past four years he has collected more than $15,000. Besides notoriety among older
athletes, his efforts have also earned him the attention of Ontario’s Lieutenant Gov- ernor who presented Grijalva and several other young people with junior citizenship medals during a recent ceremony in Toron- to. Grijalva invites everyone and anyone to help him help Canada’s next generation of athletic heroes. Go online to www.canadi- anathletesnow.ca and click on the Dona- tions link to pledge him at the next Ottawa Marathon.
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