iRun - Issue 6 October 2016

LORI CHRISTOPHER FOR TNT
I started running with TNT in 2013 after
my nephew died from leukemia. I had to do
something because there was nothing to do.
Fundraising gave my running a purpose other
than just running for myself. In 2014, I got
diagnosed with leukemia. When I got my
cancer diagnosis, I knew exactly who to call.
It was time to link up with TNT again and
do another race. Fundraising helped get me
through treatments — it gave me something
good to focus on.
With leukemia, you don’t ever get a cure. You
hope for long-term remission. And in the meantime,
I’m scoping out my next race.
I do better when I train. I feel better mentally.
I feel better physically. I ran a whole pile
of races through chemo because that’s just me.
My doctor said I’m probably the healthiest
chemo patient he knows, and that he knows
plenty of people not in chemo who aren’t as
healthy as you. Running is my outlet for everything.
It’s how I sort everything out. Put
your running shoes on and work out all life’s
stresses, just run.
In 2014, my mom died from complications
of Alzheimers. I work full-time and have
three kids and run a house — running saved
my sanity. I could not survive my mother’s
diagnosis and her being sick without it. My
best races came after my life’s most traumatic
things. There’s not many finish lines I cross
where I’m not crying.
I think when you’re running for something
other than yourself the running means more.
It’s morphed into something special for me. I’m
running for all those people who can’t run. And
to the runners reading this, reading my story —
I know fundraising is daunting. But this is our
time. Let’s band together — as runners — and
help those who need it, because we can.
AT LAVAMAN IN HAWAII, PARTICIPATING WITH TEAM IN TRAINING. PHOTO COURTESY OF LORI CHRISTOPHER. RIGHT: KEVIN VAN PAASSEN
WHAT DOES
VISION IMPAIRED
LOOK LIKE?
IT’S IMPORTANT
TO CREATE
AWARENESS.
RHONDA MARIE-AVERY
FOR ACHILLES CANADA
You come to a place in your life where you know
in order to care about someone else’s needs intensely,
you have to take care of yourself. The
only way to calm my youngest boy down, who
has ADHD, was put him in the jogging stroller.
I was diagnosed legally blind when I was three.
Before that, I was told to stop misbehaving, instead
of being led by someone across the playground
to the slide. I hooked up with Achilles
Canada, a non-profit that encourages people
with disabilities to run, and they taught me how
to be brave enough to accelerate knowing that
there’s the potential of hitting a car.
My son continued needing me in a way
that I had to be super focussed and so I began
running and it helped me be my best me,
to help him.
The culture doesn’t even know it discriminates
against people with disabilities and so
I think my visibility helps in order to have
conversations. “People with disabilities can’t
do that,” is a lot of people’s viewpoints and
it’s one of the reasons I run: what does visionimpaired
look like? A vision-impaired mother
just ran the Bruce Trail! It’s important to create
awareness. It’s one thing to have values
and speak about them, but if you’re not willing
to get on the front lines and work, you
should stop talking: you can’t stand up for
change sitting down.
People tell me stories of their uncle who
lost their vision and how they struggle losing
their independence. It doesn’t have to be that
way! Other disabled people who aren’t athletes
are saying things like, ‘If you’re running in the
mountains, I don’t have to be afraid to go to
the grocery store.’ See, my every
day isn’t this big adventure. Can
I make it to the bus stop without
getting run over? Can I pick my
son up from high school?
We don’t know how as a society
to help people fit in like that
and we need to talk about that
more.
There’s a place for people with
disabilities. And it’s definitely not
on the sidelines where we’re put.
CHARITYISSUE
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