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By Lynne Rabak
When your shotgun declares, “that was awesome!” after a particularly difficult climb up a 70-degree-angled rock face, you know they’re hooked. When that shotgun is a Canadian Forces veteran who took the chance on a stranger’s driving skills and quickly got caught up in the adventure, that’s priceless. Of course, what veteran would blanch at a challenging situation?
At the inaugural event, last October in the Minden area of Ontario, 10 vets and 10 members of the “4X4 Brigade” came together to enjoy an end-of-season trail run. No one was entirely sure how things would unfold. All we knew was that some veterans were friends with some people in the wheeling community and mentioned that going off-road looked like fun, and fun was something that they hadn’t experienced in awhile. See, most Vets deal with the after-effects of serving their country, some with injuries seen and most with those unseen, like PTSD. Injuries that often cloud the ability to enjoy the “new normal” of their lives post-injury.
Something as seemingly simple as getting away from the day-to-day, out in the natural environment, with a non-judgemental group, proved to be better therapy than we ever anticipated. From the wheelers’ perspective, our crowd often gets involved in trail runs that promote worthy causes, but this was different. This was better. We got to see the immediate benefits of our activity for an entire weekend as the smiles and laughter increased on both sides, as did the friendships. Vets, formerly from the armoured brigade, were handily hooking up winches and tow straps, showing off their skills. On top of that, we raised money to provide ongoing financial support during the year with all proceeds going directly to vets who need a hand up.
Knowing we were onto something, we all agreed, veterans and wheelers alike, that an annual “vet-together” trail run was the way to go, and best organized by members of both groups. Each year we hope to build the event with more participants and sponsors. This year, the second annual 4Wheelers4Vets trail run will be held on June 9-11, hosted by South Wind Motel and Campground in Minden and Canadian Shield 4X4 Outfitters, with support from the London and Area Jeep Owners Club.
Anyone who would like to join us in the fun is welcome. For more details, please visit 4Wheelers4Vets.ca.