The Yukon will always be special to Ray Zahab.

The Canadian ultra-marathoner found a new calling in life after reading an article published in 2003 about Yukon Arctic Ultra, which inspired him to take up the sport.

Just a couple of months after reading the article, Zahab entered the 2004 Yukon Arctic Ultra and remarkably ended up winning the race.

Since Zahab's first ultra-marathon, he has gone on to participate in races all over world that have ranged in total distances from 190 to 333-km.

On May 11, Zahab, who was the very first Canadian to run across the Sahara Desert, embarked on his longest journey to date, which is just happening to take place on home soil. For the past 12 days, Zahab, along with a team of runners, have been running a daily total of 80-km, while making stops in every province and territory as a part of a fundraising campaign for the Canadian ONExONE Project.

Wednesday marked Zahab's second time visiting Whitehorse since winning the ultra four years ago.

"The goal is to inspire Canadians as to how amazing our country is and to what we are all capable of doing and to celebrating this great organization called ONExONE," he said.

"This organization is helping people at home and worldwide that are less fortunate, but how fortunate are we to live in this amazing country? Trust me, I have seen all of it and it's amazing."

ONExONE is a Canadian-based non-profit organization that is dedicated to improving the standard of life of individuals both at home and abroad.

Currently, ONExONE helps fund more than 10 charities, which among them include the H2O Africa Foundation, HealthyKids International, the Right to Play organization and the Children's Fund of Ontario.

Zahab is currently a board member for the Ryan's Well Foundation, which is the official Athletic Ambassador to ONExONE. In 2007, Zahab received the ONExONE Difference Award.

Zahab has competed in races ranging in terrain from the cold snowy conditions of the Yukon to the humid Amazon jungle.

However, it wasn't until he ran across the Sahara in 2006 that his eye's were truly opened to the harsh conditions faced by countless of individuals throughout the world.

His commitment to using his passion for the sport to make a difference in the lives of others came after seeing firsthand the water crisis and malaria epidemic in Africa.

After witnessing the impoverished conditions in the Sahara, Zahab vowed to use all future adventures that he is a part of to raise both funds and awareness for issues that he is passionate about.

Zahab's tour of Canada began in Calgary on May 11 and he has been running his 80-km daily marathons ever since.

After traveling to Calgary, he worked his way into the prairie provinces, which were followed by stops in the Atlantic provinces, before traveling north and west through Quebec and Northern Canada, before stoping in B.C.

The tour will conclude in Ottawa during the National Capital Race weekend on Saturday.

Along the way he has been speaking at school's and to community leaders about his goals and the cause. Altogether, Zahab's running total when finished will be more than 1,000-km.

On Wednesday, Zahab met members of the Yukon community and gave a motivational speech at Rotary Peace Park. He also led a group run from Fish Ladder to Rotary Park, which was open to school children and members of the running community.

Zahab, who has been limited to an average of an hour and a half of sleep each night since beginning on May 11, said it was nice to be back in the Yukon.

"I love it," he said. "It's one of the most beautiful places that I have ever seen. It is the true definition of Canadian wilderness up here."

He said the most difficult part about the tour of Canada has been the travel.

"Going from province to province and territory to territory, getting up on minimum sleep and running 80-km, it's grueling, but we wanted it to be this way," Zahab said.

"We want to push limits so that we can inspire other people."

Zahab said the cause helps him get through all of the difficulties of running 80-km each day.

"The cause is so much more important to me than the run, that the run is motivated by the cause," he said.

"That is how I get thought it. I figure if I am in pain, I think there are kids in Africa that don't have clean water to drink and I am getting fresh Gatorade all of the time. I am living the good life compared to a lot of people in the world."

Among Zahab's future plans in the sport, include running a total distance of more than 750-km to the North Pole in 2009. His goal is to raise awareness and help provide funding on the issue of the social impact on climate change.