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Welcome to the Drum Run Adventure Tour

Presented by the Rhythm of Life Society

In partnership with BC Children's Hospital Foundation!

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JOIN THE DRUM RUN ADVENTURE TOUR
Launch Date: September 3, 2023

Join us in making a MIGHTY difference!

Run and drum with us.

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And stay up to date on all the exciting activities. 

Thank You! Can't wait to share the road with you!

20 Cities 
1,500 km

Get ready for an epic adventure! Drum Run 2023 is coming to British Columbia and it's going to be a wild ride. This running and drumming tour will not only take you on a journey through the most beautiful cities in BC, but it will also make a difference in the lives of children.

The BC Children's Hospital Foundation is our partner in this mission to "Help Kids Shine." By joining Drum Run, you'll be supporting their efforts to improve health care for children in the province.

Drum Run is a two-part adventure - the "Drum" part and the "Run" part. The drumming part of the tour will take place in over 20 cities, where you'll join Lyle Povah, an endurance athlete and marathoner, and the community for indoor drum circles. The run part is a 1,500-kilometer journey that Lyle will embark on, covering 4 tour legs:

  1. Vancouver Island: Victoria to Campbell River

  2. The Highway of Tears: Prince Rupert to Prince George

  3. The Okanagan: Kamloops to Osoyoos

  4. Lower Mainland: Hope to Vancouver.


Don't miss this chance to be a part of a community event that combines drumming, running, and making a difference. Join Drum Run 2023 now!

Four Tour Legs:  

 

  • Vancouver Island (to the West) - Victoria, Duncan, Nanaimo, Parksville, Courtney/Comox, and Campbell River

  • Highway of Tears (to the North) - Prince Rupert, Terrace, Hazelton, Smithers, Burns Lake, Fraser Lake, Vanderhoof, Prince George

  • Okanagan (to the East) - Kamloops, Salmon Arm, Vernon, Kelowna, Penticton, Osoyoos

  • Lower Mainland (to the South) - Hope, Chilliwack/Agassiz, Abbotsford, Port Moody, Vancouver

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Meet Lyle Povah

Meet Lyle Povah, the Founder and Executive Director of Rhythm of Life Society. He's an international musician, drum circle facilitator, yoga teacher and researcher who uses music and movement to bring people together and promote well-being. Lyle leads programs at events and institutions across the world, including prisons and hospitals.

Since 1991, Lyle has brought a weekly drumming and music program to kids, families and staff at BC Children's Hospital in Vancouver. He's also an endurance athlete who has run many marathons, including the Boston and Great Wall of China marathons, and recently completed the "Vancouver 100", a 100 kilometer ultramarathon.

Lyle has had the honour to work with Indigenous groups in BC, the Northwest Territories, and Northern Manitoba. He has made a big impact with his music, leading large events like TedX Stanley Park, Lululemon's International Leadership Conference, and HSBC's team building workshop. The broad spectrum of the work includes workshops and facilitation in these diverse areas: Autism, Community, Corporate, Corrections and Restorative Justice, Churches, Drumming and Yoga Retreats, Eating Disorder Programs and Research, Grief Work, Health Care, Mental Health and Addictions, Palliative Care, and Seniors.

Join Lyle and the Drum Run Team on our Rhythm of Life odyssey to make a MIGHTY difference!

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Celebrate the Rhythm Of Life

The Rhythm of Life Society is a non-profit organization that facilitates transformative Community Drum Circles and long-distance running events.

We work with youth, families and communities across British Columbia to support well-being and fitness, and counter isolation by fostering community spirit through music and movement.

This year, we are proud to sponsor Drum Run: a running and drumming adventure tour throughout British Columbia held in partnership with the BC Children's Hospital Foundation, where "small is MIGHTY".

Do you have skills to share? Join our team and make a positive impact by volunteering with Drum Run.

 

-Click above to learn more- 

A tax-deductible donation to the Rhythm of Life Society, the sponsor of the tour, helps BC Children’s Hospital Foundation in their goal to “Help Kids Shine”. 

VOLUNTEER

Whether you're a drummer, runner, neither, or just have a passion for helping others, we have a spot for you.

Are you looking for opportunities to volunteer? Join us for the Drum Run Adventure Tour, and make a MIGHTY difference!

MAKE A DONATION

Your donation to the Rhythm of Life Society helps Drum Run bring people together, inspire them to be more active, and provide a powerful antidote to the compromising health outcomes of isolation and loneliness.

CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP

Drum Run is a unique adventure tour that provides individuals, companies and organizations the opportunity to help children and families, build community spirit, make a life-giving and lasting impact, and "Help Kids Shine".

Lyle & BC Children's Hospital

For more than 25 years, Lyle Povah has worked at British Columbia's Children Hospital in Vancouver Canada, sharing a drumming and music program with kids, families, and staff throughout the hospital wards, and in the playrooms and schoolroom.

 

The focus is on having fun, as well as to normalize the hospital experience, to share the joy of music and rhythm, distract from painful medical procedures, and to foster health through movement, breath, participation, connection and laughter.

On September 3, 2023 in Victoria BC, Lyle and the Drum Run Team will kick off a two month fundraising tour for BC Children's Hospital that promotes health and well-being by combining indoor community drum circle workshops in cities throughout British Columbia with outdoor distance running events between each community.

Wherever you are at, start training for the Drum Run launch NOW! Run, walk, wheel, skip, skateboard… choose your mode! For both the Drum and the Run segments of the tour, there is a low-to-no-barrier for participants. Indoor Drum Circles are intergenerational, involve everyone, and include drums for all. Outdoor running with Lyle to the next city on the tour route will begin at a local community track and will engage families and all people.  Travel on tour with us or track our progress along the tour route!

Drum Run motivates, engages and connects people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds in interactive community-based drumming and running events that are fun and inspire physical movement.

TESTIMONIALS

I am writing to endorse the superb talent, dedication and professionalism of the music services provided by Mr. Lyle Povah at British Columbia’s Children’s Hospital. Lyle’s ability to relate to children of all ages (and their parents), to seemingly effortlessly adapt to a myriad of challenging clinical situations and to bring smiles and giggles from little patients and families make him an integral member of the health care team. His contributions to the well-being of both patients and staff are phenomenal.

I am a paediatrician on staff at Children’s for a decade. Over the years I have worked in several departments from Emergency to Cardiology and for the last few years on the ICU Step-Down ward. I have watched Lyle work his magic in all these most improbable places. Children in this setting are acutely ill, having had open-heart operations or other life-saving procedures. Some are newly diagnosed with devastating conditions. Most have just weaned off ventilators, often starting to rouse from comas. All are hooked to an array of monitors and invasive medical devices. They are anxious, sometimes in pain and generally heavily medicated. Their families are exhausted and scared; some speak little or no English. The future is uncertain.

 

Into this techno jungle strolls Lyle with his ever-changing trolley of the oddest instruments that you could imagine. Countless times I have seen infants and toddlers come alive to the songs and sounds and antics at the bedside. They open an eye, turn their head and cautiously join in, banging bells and drums and throwing themselves into the action. Older children and teens immerse themselves in the familiar strains – Lyle’s intuition is so attuned that his performance engages all ages and cultures. Often this is the first flicker of response and hope that the families (and the docs) see. The heart rates, blood pressure readings and breathing patterns settle in a response far greater than that to any medication that we have to offer.  Smiles, sometimes tears cross the faces of the nurses as the whole team takes a break from the stresses of the ward to enjoy the Lyle moments – rewarding human moments in a sea of high-tech critical medicine.

I have studied Lyle’s approach with interest and awe over the years. As a physician-scientist I have come to appreciate and respect the power of this most soothing yet invigorating and human interaction. It is beyond the realm of my medical practice yet is such an effective and valuable tool that “Lyle at the bedside” has become my favourite prescription. Lyle’s gift is unique, his manner contagious and his reliable presence is one of our greatest assets.

Sincerely,

-  Sal K. Denny, MD, FRCPC  
    Pediatrician, Intensive Care Unit, BC Children's Hospital

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" This man Lyle Povah...
has the rhythm of our Mother Earth in his heart ❤️
- Dennis Kale, First Nations Artist

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