The Flora London Marathon traces a single path through the streets of England’s capital. On April 22, 2007 Jim Finlayson, Michael Lord and Rumon Carter, along with 45 000 others, will race 26.2 miles through those historic streets.

The three lads will each race for different reasons. They’ll race the clock; they’ll race themselves. Perhaps most importantly, they’ll race to make a small difference for those less fortunate than themselves. They’ll race and harness their energy to raise money for Runners of Compassion’s Shoes for Youth program, a program that puts new shoes of the feet of marginalized and disadvantaged youth. So that those kids can know – as do each of the Three Roads to London crew – the simple freedom of a run in the woods, the wind in your face and sweat on your brow.

Because everyone – every kid – should have the means to run their own road.

To learn more about Jim, Michael and Rumon’s Three Roads to London project, please visit http://threeroadstolondon.com or simply scroll through the pages here, where you’ll find recent updates from the final 2 weeks leading up to the start of the 2007 Flora London Marathon (as well as Jim’s reports from the road as he rounds back into form and prepares for a spring of building speed and strength with an eye to returning to the marathon later this year).To donate to the Three Roads to London Shoes for Youth initiative, please visit http://threeroads.givemeaning.com. If you’re interested in Runners of Compassion (ROC) or Shoes for Youth more generally, check out http://www.runnersofcompassion.com/site/. If you like what you see, please consider harnessing the positive energy of runners in your own community and creating an ROC chapter in your home town (chapters already exist in Victoria, Nanaimo and Winnipeg) – all the necessary information is on the ROC site.

Thank you for stopping by, for your support and for helping to make a difference to a few kids who might not otherwise have the chance to realize the pure, simple joy of a run unimpeded by a lack of proper running shoes.

See you on the roads and trails.