Ottawans get ready to run for a good cause
Posted Aug 17, 2011 01:28:32 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The first annual SEARS Great Canadian Run hits the streets October 15 here in Ottawa. It’s a 100km relay that takes participants all the way to the Chateau Montebello, Quebec. The proceeds from the local run support the children’s oncology unit at CHEO.
Teams of one to 20 can take part and each runner can choose a leg of the route that is a distance they can manage.
Wednesday was the national awareness day ahead of runs in Squamish B.C. and Toronto.
Leanne and her husband Adel are running along with 17 others to support their 2-year-old son, Andy who is a patient at CHEO.
She says it’s a very important to support the care centre
“I think it’s very crucial because you never know,” she said. “You know, we took Andy in because we thought he had a bad cold and we never left so you never know when it could be your own.”
Series director Simon Williams said part of what brings overwhelming support to the cause is knowing a child who has cancer or has survived it. Participants will get to meet kids like Andy to know exactly what it is they are running for.
Williams is a survivor of kids’ cancer and says knowing at least one kind can be cured makes him feel that with research and improvements to care there may one day be a cure for all kinds.
He said 200 people have already signed up and he’s expecting to double that number by October 15.
