A Mini Marcher

The unrelenting determination of a three-year-old boy

- Kirstin Lehmann

Each year, the Kidney Foundation of Southern Alberta hosts a 100-kilometre walk, over three days, called the Kidney March. In 2017, our son Sam’s grandmother took part for the fifth time and we, as a family, decided to draw inspiration from this march to set our own goal of walking 100 kilometres in 100 days. With that in mind, we gave Sam the nickname of “Mini Marcher,” and set out on our daily journey. The sun’s early morning glow shined down on me as I followed my tiny toddler marching along the route, weaving on and off the park pathways as he collected pine cones and dandelions.

Most toddlers are known for their boundless energy, but Sam is a bit different. Only two years old at the time, he was already channelling his energy into promoting positive change via his march to raise awareness for kidney disease and living-organ donation.

A toddler walking 100 kilometres in 100 days? When we told our family and friends about Sam’s quest, people met us with skepticism and shock. No one had heard of a two-year old doing anything like this before, probably because no other two-year-old had ever attempted it, until Sam came along. It seemed very natural to my husband and me, because Sam had always loved long walks out in nature and we were simply following his natural passion.