Alberta man says he'll run as far as he can if Tim Hortons keeps limited edition donut
CBC
Running 100 kilometers is nothing for one Airdrie, Alta., man if it means Tim Hortons keeps his favourite donut around a while longer.
Zacary Jeaurond, with his daughter Lili in tow, has been running or cycling while issuing a plea to Tim Hortons to keep the walnut crunch donut on the menu.
The walnut crunch — which hasn't been available in Tim Hortons for 10 years — returned to restaurants for a limited time on May 31.
In a media release Tim Hortons acknowledges that the donut is "iconic."
But it won't be around much longer.
Jeaurond, a long distance runner who decided to dedicate his training for an upcoming 100 mile race to the walnut crunch, has been documenting his journey on social media. His goal, he says, is to "raise awareness and to advocate for the walnut crunch."
In an interview with CBC, he said the coffee shop chain can name any distance and he will run it.
"You guys set the stakes. Let me know if you want me to run 50, 100 kilometers in a day — you let me know and I'll run it as long as we can work on some sort of agreement to keep the walnut crunch," Jeaurond said.
"I'm pretty open to any suggestions from them. If they want a petition, if they want money fundraised, if they want a certain amount of kilometers, or certain race completed, anything like that I'm willing to go the distance to try and keep the walnut crunch."
As part of his journey Jeaurond recently did a tour of every Tim Hortons in Airdrie, north of Calgary, spreading his message and picking up the donut at each location.
He ate five.
"They know about me. I've been trying to talk to the managers to kind of shoot my message up the ladder if possible to try and keep it. And they're all saying the same thing," he said.
"They're all saying it's their fastest donut to sell. They're selling like hot cakes and everybody's been telling them to keep it."
As for why Jeaurond is so passionate about the walnut crunch, it's partly because chocolate is his favourite donut base. It's also his "favourite shaped donut."
The Rachel Notley government's consumer carbon tax wound up becoming a weapon the UCP wielded to drum the Alberta NDP out of office. But that levy-and-repayment program, and the wide-ranging "climate leadership plan" around it, also stood as the NDP's boldest, provincial-reputation-altering move in their single-term tenure.