Many St. Albert commuters have been rubbing their eyes in disbelief lately. All of the attention has been directed to Raemonde Bezenar, a local woman who has been training for a marathon – in a full-body gorilla suit.
Many St. Albert commuters have been rubbing their eyes in disbelief lately. All of the attention has been directed to Raemonde Bezenar, a local woman who has been training for a marathon – in a full-body gorilla suit.
Surprisingly, no gawkers have called the zoo or the city pound regarding a large lost animal. Everyone has been very pleasant to her, she admitted.
The attention-grabbing exercise has all been in pursuit of a loftier goal, that of protecting an endangered species in Africa. She’s always toyed with the idea of running a marathon; she only needed a purpose.
“I figured that it would take something big in order for me to do it,” the 48-year-old began. She’s already on the ground in Rwanda, taking her last steps of training before Sunday’s International Peace Marathon.
Although not normally a long-distance runner, she does have a big heart. She started training for her big run only three months ago, but in the last five years she has come to prominence as the founder and executive director of Canadian Friends of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project. The original Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project was founded by the late Dr. Dian Fossey.
Bezenar also helped to build the Senkwekwe Centre, a sanctuary for orphaned mountain gorilla babies in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
She also organizes the Edmonton Gorilla Run, a five-kilometre fun run/walk/wheel held every September. This will be the fourth year for that event where every participant gets a gorilla suit to run in.
At the marathon at Amahoro Stadium tomorrow, however, she will be in a class all by herself. (Amahoro is the main stadium in the Rwandan capital Kigali.)
“These are real people and I’m the only crazy one that is going to be in a gorilla suit because I want to raise awareness for gorilla conservation.”
The weather there will not be much different than it is here these days: the forecast will be mostly sunny with a high of 27C.
She admits that it is never a cool experience wearing black fur head to toe.
“It’s hot!” she exclaimed, later adding that the heavy suit she has been wearing would be replaced by a lighter, more race-worthy model for the marathon. The two will be similar in appearance, but the new one will make it easier for her to make the distance
“It doesn’t matter. It’s going to be hot and I’m going to be totally drenched in two miles. That’s okay. I totally live for this. People run in these all the time.”
This won’t be her first big run in the costume. She completed an Edmonton marathon last August, walking most of the route and coming in just under the 6:30 mark.
“I didn’t faint or have a nose print on the ground, or anything like that. It was 30C and people were dropping like flies … but the gorilla made it!”
The whole point of this is to protect the endangered mountain gorillas. The people of Central Africa, she continued, are the key to the survival of the species. Seeing foreigners arrive to lend their support is a real shot in the arm for their work.
“It’s the world speaking to them, going, ‘We must conserve the gorilla, because if the gorilla doesn’t survive, we will not survive.’ ”
It all started for her several years ago when she made numerous treks into the region to discover more about the gorillas. What she learned changed her life.
“After visiting the gorillas, I left wanting to be a better human being. They show you. They all interact. They’re not on their cellphones. They’re playing. They’re eating. They’re farting. That’s what they do all the time. They’re all together. They remind you what family is all about.”
It is estimated that there are only about 880 mountain gorillas left in the world. Anyone who wants to learn more about the project or help contribute to the cause can visit its website at www.cfmgvp.com.
There’s a link to sponsor her near the top of the page under the headline “CFMGVP in Rwanda May 19, 2013.”
The goal is to raise only $880 – $1 for each gorilla – but by Tuesday she had brought in only slightly more than a quarter of that goal.
Bezenar will be paying for all of her expenses, including the flight. All of the pledges that she raises will go straight to the original Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project. It focuses on supporting gorilla conservation, a veterinary medical scholarship and One Health, a program that supports the people, wildlife and the environment through health care, education, research and service.
