If you spotted a man dressed as a big yellow Minion on Toronto’s lakeshore on Tuesday morning, chances are you crossed paths with Tommy Trinh. The 24-year-old runner donned a banana-yellow, oval suit at 5 a.m. on July 23 and ran the marathon distance in six hours to raise funds for the city’s Parkdale Food Bank.
— tommy (@tommytrxnh) July 23, 2024
Trinh needed to jumpstart his fundraising goal of $10,000, and vowed to run a half marathon in the costume if he hit his target. When a bunch of donations poured in, Trinh knew he had to deliver, upping his ante to the marathon distance.
On Tuesday morning, he set off from Toronto’s Cherry Beach to Marie Curtis Park in Etobicoke and back, covering 42.2 kilometres. Trinh started at 5 a.m. to beat the summer heat, but it got too much to handle just before halfway, prompting him to ditch the blow-up Minion suit, revealing yet another Minion costume underneath. Talk about dedication to the craft.
He completed the marathon distance in six hours and 13 minutes. “If anything, I want to remind people that you can just do stuff. You can go run a marathon and raise $10,000 for a good cause,” Trinh told the Toronto Star.
Spotted: Parkdale resident @tommytrxnh running a full marathon in support of his #fundraising efforts for @parkdalefoodbnk. Tommy promised some out-of-the box activities to get people to #donate to his cause. Learn more about his initiative: https://t.co/9dQ1hFioIv #GiveBack pic.twitter.com/uLjeqviS7c
— DailyBreadFoodBank (@DailyBreadTO) July 23, 2024
If you are unfamiliar with Minions, they are small, yellow, cylindrical characters from the Despicable Me movie franchise. They have become popular in internet meme culture for their goofy aesthetic and slapstick-style humour. For Trinh, sporting a Minion costume was a fun and ridiculous way to run.
Trinh has raised $10,500 for Parkdale Food Bank, whose mission is to create a hunger-free community in Toronto’s Parkdale area. You can still contribute to Trinh’s fundraiser using this link.
