The idea to run a marathon for MS grew by chance. I had been invited to attend a meeting by another group that participates in marathons and different races to raise funds for charity. After this meeting I approached the MS Society of Canada to see if they had a similar program. I wanted to do something to raise awareness for MS and decided to run a marathon to honour the memory of my mother while raising funds for MS. On our travels across Canada and the States my mother had always loved our visit to New York City. The NYC Marathon seemed a fitting choice. It would prove to be more fitting than I thought…

During the early stages of planning, my sister, Sandra was helping me with fundraising ideas. As she was checking some details for me, she looked up the marathon on line and called me back. In a strange voice, she asked me if I realized what day the marathon was? I wasn’t sure – I told her I only knew it was in November. Sandra told me the marathon was set for November 2. We were both silenced by her words; November 2nd was our mother’s birthday. At that point I knew my reason for wanting to enter this marathon. My goal is to raise $10,000.00 through these fundraisers.

My campaign is called ‘Run for Joy’, but it could just as easily be called run for Edna (my grandmother) or run for Leroy (my cousin) both who passed away from complications related to their MS. I will be running for them this November and for all those people you and I have known or loved that lived with this disease; especially those who still deal with it on a daily basis.

Please help by pledging to the Run for Joy campaign at the MS Society of Canada.