Heather Camlot

 

A couple of weeks ago, I ran Harry’s Spring Run-Off to Fight Prostate Cancer. It was a gorgeous day in Toronto’s beautiful High Park and the run was good, despite the brutal hill in the last half kilometer of the five-kilometer race.

But it wasn’t the weather or setting or crossing of the finish line that made the run more sweet than bitter. As mentioned before, my uncle died of prostate cancer a few years ago, and these types of charitable events are my way of doing something to not only remember him by but to hopefully raise some money for research so others do not have to lose their loved ones. I admit, I don’t raise very much, but every little bit counts.

So while the event is a sad one for me, this year I was so delighted because one of my best friends and our children ran, too.  The Harry Rosen event had an 800-meter fun run for children ages 5 and 12. Juliana isn’t yet old enough, but I asked Alexandre if he’d like to run. When he heard the word “medal” he was all over it. We talked about the run and why we were running it and I was so over the moon that he’d participate. I signed us up for our separate runs and for raising donations.

One of the people I emailed asking for a donation was my friend Marsha. A week later we were at her house for dinner and I semi-jokingly said, “Well, you guys can run with us.” (We hadn’t run together in 10 years!) Right there and then she asked her daughter, who is just a few months younger than Alexandre, if she’d like to run the race with him. I mentioned the medal and she was in.  

So on the morning of the run, we took the subway across town (while on which Alexandre identified all the runners in their green shirts and opened his sweatshirt so they could tell he was a runner too), met our friends at the entrance of High Park and trekked to the starting line.

At 11:15 am Marsha and I were off and running. We paced ourselves, chatted, enjoyed the view and hoped to get back in time to see our kids run at 11:45 am. We didn’t, but we did pick them up at the end of their race (big kudos to race organizers who gated off the race exit so kids couldn’t leave until an adult picked them up) and waited for the men and younger kids, who walked the 800 meters to the finish line.

The kids received ribbons (oops!) so Marsha and I handed over our medals and then the older kids gave their ribbons to their little siblings. The two people who didn’t receive anything were Marc and Marsha's husband, Randy, so without further ado: you both deserve a big thank you for making this run possible. Without your help, we wouldn't have been able to run.

And we hope to continue running. We set a date for the 10k Oasis Zoo Run at the Toronto Zoo in late September.  Not only should it be gorgeous weather and a beautiful setting, but it has a fun run that all four kids will be able to participate in. While I’m sure they’ll receive medals or ribbons or some such prize for finishing, I hope they take away more than just a token from these events. I hope they learn  (in time, I know they’re young!) that exercising can change your life, that exercising with a friend can change your attitude, and that exercising for a cause you believe in can change your world.