by JIM DUFF
ST. LAZARE — The Lepage family believes in running for a cause.
Every year, their marathon-running dad, Dr. Patrick Lepage gives clients at the Dr. Lepage Chiropractic Centre the opportunity to support his fundraising efforts for Leucan Montérégie.

This year, the entire family heads up to Ottawa, where Patrick will be competing in this year’s Ottawa Marathon. At 8 a.m., four-year-old Charles-Antoine, six-year-old Juliette and nine-year-old Émilie will be on the starting line of the Ottawa Kids’ Marathon, a 1.2 km race.

For the three Lepage children, the Kids’ Marathon will mark the completion of a project they began last December. Over the last five months, at the rate of a kilometre or two at a time, all three have run the equivalent of a marathon, 42.2 km.

The race, part of the Ottawa Marathon Weekend, was created to promote fitness amongst today’s youth and generate interest in the sport of running. Children are encouraged to perform a half hour of exercise on a regular basis; each half hour of exercise is equivalent to a kilometre. To complete their marathon equivalents prior to race day, children can participate in numerous types of exercise such as running, soccer, cross country skiing, basketball or hockey.

The Lepage kids had good reasons to want to tally their mileage by running. Not only does Patrick preach public health education and prevention, but they’re running for Leucan, an association which helps cancer-stricken children and their families. Dr Lepage’s wife, Genevieve, a leukemia survivor, benefited from Leucan’s services when she was 14.

The family is hoping to raise $1,000 from May 22-29. Dr. Lepage is offering a complimentary chiropractic examination including x-rays in exchange for a $30 donation to Leucan. People can also "beat the clock" by guessing Patrick’s finish time to be eligible for one of three prizes. In addition, Massothérapie St. Charles, located in Vaudreuil and at the Centre chiropratique Dr Lepage will give $5 massages that week.

To make an appointment, call the Dr Lepage Chiropractic Centre, (450) 455-9822.