Three time Olympic boxer Mike Strange passed through Portage la Prairie on Thursday on the 22nd day of the Box Run. Strange plans to run from Thunder Bay to Vancouver in support of children's cancer research.

Strange said the idea started with a little girl named Kelsey Hill. He had met Hill at a charity event he had organized last year in Niagara Falls called Heater's Heroes Run for Children in memory of Robert "Heater" Lavelle and began to communicate with her on an almost daily basis.

"Kelsey was from Ridgeway, Ontario and she had a brain tumour - she was paralyzed basically half her body and she went through a lot of treatments. We became really close through this event," said Strange.

When Kelsey passed away in Dec. of 2011 Strange was devastated and decided to do something about it.

"I was really devastated and crushed really. Something has to be done about this, so a thought just came into my head, 'has anyone ever ran where Terry Fox stopped to basically out West - not to finish his run, but to run where he didn't run,'" said Strange. "I didn't want to run where Terry ran out of respect for Terry."

For the last 22 days starting in Thunder Bay Mike Strange has run 40 kilometers a day, visiting schools and hospitals along the way with the goal of reaching Vancouver on July 1, and Victoria on July 5. So far the response has been incredible.

To donate to the Box Run visit the website www.boxrun.ca to donate online or go to any TD Bank in Canada to donate to the Box Run account.

For the full story see Friday's edition of the Portage Daily Graphic.