The descendants of Billy Loutit and Athabasca community representatives ran side-by-side July 28-29 to honour the local Métis hero’s journey between Athabasca and Edmonton.
The 100-mile honour run traced the reverse of a route Loutit ran in 1904 from Athabasca Landing to Fort Edmonton to deliver a message of an impending flood. Dozens of family members and Athabasca representatives ran the route in a relay style to honour Loutit’s legacy, starting at the Edmonton Legislative Grounds July 28, taking a break in Clyde that evening and finishing at the Athabasca Riverfront Park July 29 about 26 hours later.
It was the same route Loutit’s great-grand daughter Shannon Loutitt ran solo 10 years ago. She said running the route again with family taking part was a dreamlike experience.
“I feel like I’ve just been on the most incredible roller coaster ride of emotions,” Loutitt said in an interview.
“This community is family to my great-grandfather and always was. I think my family coming here together this weekend and being with this family that is another part of us, is something I could have only imagined in a dream,” she added.
The honour run was ceremonial all the way through, Louttit said.
After a ceremony in Edmonton to begin the run, runners each carried a bag in honour of Billy Loutit. The bag was filled with important symbols for the family, added to at each transfer point along the route, Louttit said. Athabasca representatives carried a big container with an original spike used in the construction of the town.
The idea for the event sprung after the cancellation of the Athabaska Ultra 100, which was set to run July 27-29 along the Athabasca Landing Trail and feature Indigenous storytelling along the route. Louttit approached family members to participate in the ultra to honour of Billy Loutit.
The Ultra was cancelled May 29 “due to unforeseen circumstances and logistical challenges,” according to a statement from the event association’s board of directors. But Athabascan Lisa Stocking approached Louttit to try and help the family still do its honour run.
“I just know how important Shannon’s legacy is here, so I just wanted her family to be able to do it,” Stocking said in an interview, adding the run itself was magical. “It was honestly amazing. It was something to be experienced that I’m not sure can be replicated.”
After that, Louttit said she contacted her family, who were on board to do the run.
The event was organized in the span of approximately five weeks, Stocking said.
“Thank you to everybody who stepped up. It was very, very short notice,” Stocking said. “Everybody helped everybody to get through.”
Loutit’s grandson Doug Demers ran from Meanook into Colinton as part of the honour run. He said he wanted to participate to reconnect with his grandfather, adding the event helped bring his family together.
“Like a lot of families, we live far apart. To have an event like this, brings us all close together with a common goal and a common feeling of togetherness,” he said. “A sense of loyalty we have amongst each other because of the connection.”
Rhonda Guay ran alongside Demers during the run as an Athabascan representative and said the run was an important piece of reconciliation.
“It goes a long way toward the reconciliation movement. It’s our little part here that we can do and most importantly, the history’s not lost,” Guay said, adding she was proud of how the town came together to help support the honour run.
The runners gathered in town July 29 at a breakfast put on by the Athabasca Native Friendship Centre and the Rotary Club of Athabasca at the Athabasca and District Senior Drop-In Centre.
The runners then gathered together to run down 50 Street to conclude the run, reminiscent of what occurred at the end of Louttit’s journey from Edmonton to Athabasca in 2008.
The runners then gathered for presentations and speeches at the Athabasca Riverfront Park. Town of Athabasca Mayor Colleen Powell said in a speech to the crowd that this run was an example of communities coming together.
“We can bring our two communities together. We can meld with each other. We can help each other. We can respect each other and learn from each other,” Powell said.
Louttit said running the route of her great-grandfather 10 years ago was incredible and it was something she was happy her family could also experience.
“You guys experienced that, too, and I couldn’t be prouder,” she said in a speech to the crowd. “This community, to me, you are part of our family. You are part of this incredible relationship that I don’t even know exists anywhere else and I think together, we represent something so spectacular.”
