Remember Roy Wiegand? He’s the Burbank trumpet player and teacher who loves to run ultra-long distances, and has turned his passion for exercise into a charitable endeavor. Last year, he ran 250 miles in eight days from San Luis Obispo to the Rose Bowl – sometimes pushing a racing stroller filled with 10 gallons of dirty water – to bring attention to and benefit Lifewater International, a non-profit that drills wells to provide clean water in Ethiopia. He ended up raising $12,000. Next month, he is turning his attention closer to home, specifically the Michael Hoefflin Foundation for Children’s Cancer, a Santa Clarita non-profit that assists children and families touched by childhood cancer. Wiegand, 50, chose the foundation after one his son’s Boy Scout troop members, Christopher Wilke, died of cancer of the bile ducts on March 20 at age 12. The trumpet player attended the rosary and was touched by all the stories he heard about the boy. “It really moved me,” he said. The Burbank boy was a huge Angels fan, so Wiegand plans to run 75 miles on July 4 from Angel Stadium to the foundation’s headquarters at 26470 Ruether Ave. He will start at 5 a.m. and his route will take him north on the San Gabriel River bike path to Azusa, where he will head west along a major thoroughfare, before heading north in Glendale along Glenoaks Boulevard to The Old Road. Donations can be made at the foundation’s website – mhf.org – which on the day of the run will have a GPS tracker showing Wiegand’s exact location. He hopes to raise $48,000 and would like children and adults to join him for parts of his run. He’s even taking a stroller to push along tots. “He was a really great kid,” Wiegand said. “I am running in his honor and to support the foundation, which really helped his family out.” – Laurence Darmiento
