Most people would call one cross-country trip enough. Myles Dininio spent his first one thinking about the next.
The Zephyr father of two says the idea for his latest challenge goes back to when he was 18 and riding his mountain bike across Canada.
“I came up with the idea when I was 18 years old and I was riding my mountain bike across the country,” Dininio says to Newmarket Today.
On that trip, he packed a tent and sleeping bag and headed west from Mount Albert with no training. He had no cellphone, no support and no sponsors. He rode for 49 days until he reached Nelson, British Columbia.
Instead of treating that ride as a one-time feat, Dininio decided the next cross-country trip would be on foot.
Now, 22 years after that solo bike ride, Dininio plans to start a cross-country run on April 1. This time, he says, the motivation is raising money and attention for mental health issues.
His goal is to raise $50,000 for CAMH, which the source describes as the country’s largest mental health hospital. So far, he has raised $11,000 and says he is hopeful the rest will come.
“A lot has happened in that time,” he says to Newmarket Today, pointing to his home, his marriage to Jessica and their children, Oliver, 11, and Florence, 10.
Dininio, who works as a carpenter in the film industry, plans to start in St. John’s. He will dip a Mason jar in the Atlantic Ocean and begin running west. He is travelling with a camper marked with a Myles Across Canada 2026 logo and a QR code linking people to details about the trip.
His father will drive the camper for the first month.
Dininio says he wants the run to help start conversations about mental health as well as bring in donations for CAMH.
“I think it’s a good opportunity to talk about the mental health issues that people struggle with on a daily basis,” he says. “I have had no involvement with CAMH until I started this. I just have my daily struggles like most people.”
He says the lead-up has been hard as he gets ready to leave home for months.
“The build-up’s been a killer,” he adds. “I’m going to leave my wife and kids and go out and try this crazy idea. I think once it gets going, I think it will be easier.
“I’m a carpenter, I’m not a super-star runner.”
His plan is to run 60 kilometres a day for 130 days. He says there will likely be rainy days and days when his body needs a break. He describes the run in simple terms.
The run, he says, will be like daily life: just pushing forward.
After the first month, his father will return home and friends will take over as his support team. On July 1, Jessica and the children plan to join him for the rest of the trip. He expects to finish in Vancouver at the end of August or the beginning of September.
He has packed a second Mason jar in the camper. After completing the 8,000-kilometre run and reaching Vancouver, he plans to dip it in the Pacific Ocean so he has a pair of mementos from the trip.
“Once the campgrounds are open, we’ll stay in campgrounds. In the beginning, it’s going to be a lot of Walmart parking lots and Crown land,” he says.
Dininio says he has done the odd race, including the Oak Ridges Moraine Adventure Relay with Jessica and others, but he describes himself as a rogue runner. He trains on the road or in the basement gym when work and life allow.
The trip also comes with costs. Dininio will not be working during that time. He says current gas prices mean it costs $250 to fill the truck with diesel. He also bought the camper for the trip and a backup power system, and he expects to spend money on hotel rooms.
Jessica says the family is behind him.
“I think it’s great,” says Jessica, adding that it will also be an adventure for the kids to see their dad in action. “He proposed the idea for me a few years ago. Obviously, it’s going to be tough for the both of us.”
If things go as planned, the family has also talked about doing a cross-country bike ride together one day, possibly when the children are older and off to school.
📸 credit: Newmarket Today
