When Dayna shared with us the story of her friend’s son, Caleb, sadly lost his battle with a form of childhood brain cancer, we knew we wanted to try and give back. Caleb’s parents have started a foundation in Caleb’s name (A cure for Caleb) and have raised money for awarness of brain cancer, research and treatment for childern currently fighting for their lives. Our way of giving back came in the form of hosting both a virtual and local race appropriately named, Fight Like A Kid. The support we recieved was second to none. People from all around the world registered for our virtual run and we recieved about 30 total registrants. Virtual participants recieved a bib and a medal, and a tshirt if they chose one. On race day, we recieved photos of people running in their home towns proudly wearing our bibs, supporting the cause.
Caleb’s mother also organized a run her home town and raised almost 1000$ for A Cure for Caleb.
Our local run was a huge sucess. We had 67 local runners participate in both or 5k, 10k and 21k distance. For some of the runners, it was their first time running their chosen distance. The rain held up for the first part of the run which we were thankful for. At 8:45 we gathered all the runners together and Dayna gave a heart-felt speech about Caleb and our cause, that moved many of the runners to tears. It really set the mood for why we had all come together, what we were running for, and what we had accomplished all together. We changed the mood with our light-hearted up-beat course discription and had the runners laughing and smiling and ready to run, with Caleb, and all other childern fighting against cancer, in their hearts.
To start the run we had our kids run, a 1km fun run that Dayna and I lead. We had 3 childern participate in the run and it was so much fun watching them burst off the start line, and finish the run smiling proudly as they recieved their medals. The rest of the kids impressively ran the 5km distance!! All the distances started at the same time. (Looking back we realized we will have to stagger the distances next time as the finishing time for the races was so different) The 21km runners headed in one direction, and everyone else took off in the other. It was cool to watch the half-marathoners come back from the first part of their run through the start point and head off for the rest of their run which was from that point on the same as the 10km distance, expect they did 2 compelte laps of Huston Trail. The runners starting coming in through the finish line, sometimes alone, sometimes hand in hand, giving hugs to fellow runners and thanking each other for the encouragement. It was all smiles as we watched everyone cross the finish line, and one of our favourite moments of the day was watching the 5 kids (including Dayna’s son) who ran the 5km overflowing with happiness and enthusiasm!
Us three stood at the finish line, Courtney and Dayna handing out finishers medals, and I time keeping. Both Dayna’s parents and Courtney’s parents cross their 5km finish lines holding hands and they proudly placed their medals around their necks. For Dayna’s dad and Courtney’s mum, it was their first finish lines, just goes to show it’s never too late to try something new!! Both of their significant others crossed the finish line, both of them bringing us to laughter as Mike ran straight through, and Robin collapsed to the ground! Our amazing friend Adam stood behind the lens and captured all the smiles. We will let the pictures do the talking:
We had absolutely amazing volunteers manning our aid station, marshalling the road crossing, and sending people into the correct trails. We also had amazing, enthusiastic sweepers that proudly carried our flaggy tape like cheerleader pompoms!
Together, with both our virtual and local race, we were able to raise 3000$ for A Cure for Caleb. We are floored by the support we continue to recieve from this community, and we are learning that together are strong and that anything is possible. Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts for joining us to help kids, Fight Like kids!
All photos taken by: ADAM CUIK