Sebastien Jacques heading home
In April, Sebastien Jacques set out to walk 5000 km across North America and prove to the world that people can overcome any obstacle. Yesterday he completed the stretch leading him from Virginia Beach, Virginia, to Santa Monica, California and soon he will be flying back to walk the home stretch from Quebec City to Magog.
Although the walk was a major personal accomplishment, the cancer survivor and former competitive tennis star was firm about the fact that this challenge was never meant to be about him.
“This wasn’t a personal challenge,” Jacques said. “Some people might think that, but I didn’t walk across America just to say that I walked across America. The walk was all about telling people you can go through tough times and be okay; you can accomplish anything.”
The walker decided upon the goal of walking “a marathon a day” across the continent while in Australia after the surgery that gave him his life back. The path he followed linked the school he was attending when he received his diagnosis to the site of the treatment that ultimately saved him, with a little bit of Quebec on each end.
“I would actually have finished today” he said on Tuesday, “but the doctor couldn’t be at the finish line until tomorrow, so for the last week instead of doing 25 miles a day I’ve been doing 20.”
For most of his journey, Jacques walked alone with only a stroller to hold his supplies. He went through four pairs of shoes but, surprisingly, only used his tent for ten nights over the six month span of his journey.
“The last two months I was being hosted pretty much every night,” the walker said, explaining that the biggest
Participants in the upcoming edition of the Comptonales agrotourism event gathered at Groleau farm yesterday to announce the schedule of tastings and activities for its 12th year.
New on the menu this year is an opening night on Friday, Sept.22 featuring a ‘tasting school’. Held in the gardens of the Louis-s-st-laurent museum, chef consultant David Vinas will whip up five different meal options for a family of four using a variety of mystery ingredients. Anne Ricard, a tea specialist, will then hold a tea cocktail 101 class, creating bubble tea and a number of mixes and infusions.
surprise of the trip for him was the number of people who were willing to either take him into their homes or put him up in a hotel overnight. “That was a really cool part of the adventure,” Jacques added, explaining that he feels having to reach out for help allowed him to make deeper connections with the people and places he encountered.
Although Jacques set out with the mission of inspiring others to overcome the obstacles in their lives, he said that the journey as a whole has convinced him that this is a mission he needs to commit his life to. As he prepares for the return journey, the walker had already started to plan for a future of giving motivational talks to local businesses and schools.
“Everyone’s been telling me how amazing it is what I am doing, but it’s not a miracle or anything. I’m just waking up and walking, again and again and again. In the end it looks like a magic challenge but that’s not how I saw it,” Jacques said. “When I was hurting I wasn’t thinking, oh I should quit, because I knew I had all these people that I wanted to share my message with and give hope to; I was going to crawl to California if I had to.”
Armed with his experiences of overcoming a brain tumor and walking across the continent, Jacques said that he also plans to work in one on one coaching for people in rehabilitation or who are facing major struggles in the hopes that he can show others what he has learned.
“It wasn’t an easy challenge,” he said. “I’m always smiling so people think it is a walk in the park, but it has been a major physical and mental challenge.”
Rather than be defeated by the reality of twenty five miles of walking every day along sometimes narrow and dangerous roads or though the Arizona desert, Jacques said that he chooses to view every new challenge as an opportunity to see what he can do.
“I thought, in the beginning, that I would split the day in two and take a break but no, that didn’t happen,” the walker said. “Once I got going I just wanted to finish the day. At this point I could walk all day and night I think, your body just gets used to it after a certain point.”
Jacques will be coming back to Quebec for the last 10 days of his walk, leaving Quebec City on the 20th of September to return home to Magog in time for a public celebration on the 30th.
A full route map of Jacques walk can be found at http://sebastienjacques.com/en/wheream-i-now/