47.4 miles around Lake of Bays to raise $10,000 for New Shoe Day.

For seven generations, Montgomerys have descended on a patch of land in Muskoka, Ontario, to a little old house on a lake called Lake of Bays. It's the kind of place that gets into your bones. The place we go on our first, and our last, trip around the sun, and every trip in between. The water is dark and clean, the pines are tall and fresh, and dock days stretch on until the shadows get long and smoke curls up from the bonfire pits above.

But don't be fooled. We're a competitive group. My grandfather nearly had a heart attack trying to win a regatta race for our local port (true story). Friendly card games can quickly turn to yelling matches. Multiple D1 collegiate swimmers have even made the 7.4-mile swim around Bigwin Island in the center of the lake.

Running is my thing. Always has been. Marathons, ultras, the kind of miles that make normal people ask "why?" So when I started thinking about what challenge I could bring to Lake of Bays, there was really only one answer.

I'm sure a Canadian has done it. But I can't find the route on Strava, and I'm excited to be the one to post it.

The full loop is 47.4 miles. Country roads, gravel shoulders, forest stretches. It'll be hilly, hot, and certainly not without its fair share of northern bred horse flies. As I got to thinking about this, I realized if I'm going to put myself through it, I don't just want to do it for a personal record or a story to tell at the dinner table. I want to do it for an organization that I care about deeply.

New Shoe Day is Indiana's first statewide shoe bank. They put brand-new shoes on kids who need them. Not hand-me-downs, not last season's leftovers. New shoes. The kind that make a kid stand a little taller, feel a little more confident when they walk into school.

I serve on New Shoe Day's board, so I've seen firsthand what a pair of shoes can do. It's one of the most direct, tangible forms of giving I've ever been a part of. There's no bloat. No abstract mission statement. It's something everyone can understand, and something that brings real joy to kids. Dignity in a box.

So here's the deal. I'm going to run 47.4 miles around the lake, and every dollar raised goes directly to New Shoe Day. The goal is $10,000. That's a lot of new shoes.

I'm starting in Dwight in the early morning on August 2nd, 2026. Instead of my typical morning at the lake prepping the dock, loading up the coolers, and dusting off the water skis, I'll be lacing up for 47.4 miles of sweat, pain, and the kind of jubilation that only runners understand.

From Dwight, I'll head east along the top of the lake to Dorset. That's our first refuel stop. If you've never been to Dorset, let me paint the picture for you. It's a quintessential one-stoplight northern town with Robinson's General Store (voted "Canada's Best Country Store"), a fire tower that's been watching over the lake since 1922, and Northern D'lites ice cream. Fingers crossed they open early.

From Dorset, I'll push south another 15 miles to Baysville for a second stop where I will rehydrate and reload for the last and longest stretch.

The final push is 21 miles heading north and west, back to Dwight where I'll close the loop (and probably drink a beer). Job done, and maybe with some time to hit the dock before the horseshoe pit lights up.

No aid stations. No race bib. No medal at the finish line. Just one pair of shoes, two refuel stops, and a cause worth every single mile.