A team of teachers and students from Ecole francophone d'Airdrie are preparing to set out on a journey to help end kidney disease.  

The group of four teachers will walk in the Kidney March while five to eight Grade 12 students will serve as their support crew for the march.

When the idea first came up, teachers Simon Brisebois and Arnaud Truchi were planning to make the march on their own but Brisebois says their team ranks have doubled.

"There's two more members of our school crew who decided to join us for the Kidney March so there's four people from our school doing the march this coming weekends.  Nicole Beaudoin and Roxanne O'Connor were training already at the Airdrie Fit Buddy Boot Camp and they're really into physical fitness so they decided to join us because it would be a good challenge for them and they wanted to support our cause."

The cause is a deeply personal one for both Brisebois and Truchi.  The reason Brisebois is walking is in memory of his mother who passed away earlier this year after being on kidney dialysis for six years.  Truchi's own kidneys are failing after being on anti-recjection drugs for years because of a previous kidney transplant.

Brisebois says he has been working hard to get in shape for the three day, 100 km walk that starts Friday morning at the Millarville Racetrack and then winds it's way through scenic Kananaskis Country.

"My goal was to go 40 km a week but I did an average of 80 km a week so I'm pretty sure I'm ready for it."  Despite that training, Brisebois knows that, for people of a certain age, the walk may take it's toll on a body.

"I think everything is going to be okay.  There may be some blisters issues or knees issues.  We're getting a bit older so there's always things here and there that you can feel in your body and even though you train for something there might be something going on that week.  Basically this week I'm trying not to get hurt, that's for sure," he laughs.

Brisebois says the team is having one last fundraising event before the march where people can contribute to their cause.  "It's with Airdrie Fit Buddy Boot Camp.  We're going to be behind the Genesis Place on Monday from 12:30 to 3:00 pm.  Fit Buddy Boot Camp will be there with some Zumba classes and people are going to go up and down the hill behind Genesis Place and Iron Man is supposed to be there too."

Anyone wishing to support the team who can't be at the fundraiser can go online to kidneymarch.ca and click on "Sponsor A Marcher." to make a donation.

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