‘Faggot’, still used: Advocate

by EVAN MATTHEWS” 

As Edward Dostaler walked past Three Ranges Brewing Co., just after he had purchased and put on his Tie Die shirt in support of Valemount’s Rainbow Crosswalk, a truck drove by.

“Nice shirt, Faggot!” Someone from the truck yelled at him.

Edward Dostaler is also known as Fast Eddy.

He’s running across Canada, having run over 26,000 KMs already to date, while raising awareness and research funding for Alzheimer’s and Breast Cancer.

On average, he says he runs between 60-80 KM per day.

When Dostaler arrived in Valemount this week, he says once a homophobic slur was thrown in his direction he fully realized the need for a Rainbow Crosswalk in Valemount.

People may be generally accepting, he says, but it’s not good enough if people aren’t getting the message.

“I had to ask the kids at the secondary school: ‘do you think this is okay? Do you think this is acceptable? I don’t,” says Dostaler, noting the kids agreed.

“I want to encourage people to be who they are,” he says.

Acceptance versus hatred, he says, is far more of a choice than sexuality, noting the truck that passed him as a perfect example.

While Dostaler attempts to raise awareness and funds for Breast Cancer and Alzheimer’s, he also tries to inspire communities in other ways, including taking action on Valemount’s Rainbow Crosswalk, which affected him personally.

Having now run for 572 days, Dostaler expects a total of 610 days to complete his journey, and his stroller, which he named Aurora, has rolled almost every kilometer with him.

“You have to have those funny little details to keep you going,” says Dostaler.

His “friend, Aurora,” may be different in a traditional sense, but so is the method Dostaler runs, and it’s been evolving since day one.

Currently, he runs 10 KM down the highway, and he runs 10 KM back. Then he gets in his car, and drives the 10 KM that he just ran, and repeats the process.

But prior to this method, he says he ran the whole way from Gander, NFLD, to Dryden, ON, while pushing Aurora.

In keeping with the uniqueness that is Fast Eddy, Dostaler says his diet is no different than it’s ever been, no different than the average person. It’s not something he really thinks about, he says.

“I just listen to my body,” says Dostaler.

“I don’t eat extreme amounts, but it’s not something I really think about”¦ I don’t really do the runner’s diet.”

Because Dostaler was pushing his possessions with zero help, and was not driving, he says making it to his destinations “on-time” had become challenging. School presentations, for instance, were falling by the wayside.

He altered his running method to, in his words, “get more done, and make more of a difference.”

“It was a grind,” says Dostaler. “I still just try to take it day by day.”

His hope, he says, is that his grind makes a difference in the lives of everyone he meets, but specifically, youth.

“We need a sense of community,” he says, noting his sexuality had/has nothing to do with his time here, or his support of the crosswalk, though he did say he is one hundred per cent heterosexual.

Dostaler will look to the aforementioned community he’s trying to create, as he looks to finish the remaining 1,000 KM of his trip (to Victoria) in one month’s time, while continuing to raise funds.

“Average people can do above average things,” says Dostaler.

“Hopefully, people take that with them.”

Shirts in support of Valemount’s Rainbow Crosswalk can be purchased through” Gail Burbidge.