Charity Program: Featuring Ronald McDonald House BC

“Your child is seriously ill…”

For parents, these are among the most terrifying words they could ever hear. Imagine the fear, anxiety and stress families face as they cope with their child’s illness. Imagine them facing that struggle alone, in an unfamiliar place far away from home.

Ronald McDonald House® British Columbia provides accommodation and support for out-of-town families who must stay in Vancouver for weeks, months, or even years while their child receives medical treatment at BC Children’s Hospital.

Those who walk through the front doors of Ronald McDonald House® British Columbia enter into a world unlike anywhere else they have been before. Our home is magical and nurturing, filled with laughter and joy, delightful aromas wafting from our kitchen, and most importantly, families and children from throughout British Columbia whose lives are measured not by years, but by moments.

Ronald McDonald House British Columbia provides a comfortable and hopeful space, where families can come together and share in their experiences while leaving their worries behind.

It is because of the generosity of organizations like BMO Vancouver Marathon that families with children facing life-threatening illnesses in BC can celebrate these moments together. Families at Ronald McDonald House BC are full of life and hope, all due to the ongoing support of our wonderful and generous donors!

“I don’t know what we would have done if it wasn’t for Ronald McDonald House BC,” says Jenn, a mother who stayed at the House while her one-year-old daughter received specialized treatment for cancer in Vancouver. “We will never be able to thank the House and the incredible people who reside in it enough – for the financial burden they lifted, for the stability they provided, for enabling us to keep our family together. The support, love and understanding the House provides is simply immeasurable.”

Visit www.rmhbc.ca to learn how you can help us build a new House and serve hundreds more families each year.

Margaret Buttner, Board Member of the Vancouver International Marathon Society presents donation cheque to Rupeela Gill, Annual Fundraising & Events Coordinator at Ronald McDonald House BC & Yukon. Funds were raised at the 2012 BMO Vancouver Marathon.

Runners donated nearly $5900 to the Ronald McDonald House as part of the BMO Vancouver Marathon 2012 event. The cheque represents part of the nearly $800,000 raised for charity through our event in 2012.

For more information, please visit www.rmhbc.ca

Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/rmhbc

Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RMHBC

Charity Program: Featuring Canuck Place Children’s Hospice

Those who walk through the doors of Canuck Place Children’s Hospice find themselves entering a world quite unlike anywhere else they’ve been before.  A beautiful and lovingly maintained garden surrounds the house, and inside you’ll find the home’s original turn-of-the-century structuring, a stunning stained glass window, wonderful aromas coming from an always-bustling kitchen, and most importantly, families and children from all over British Columbia whose lives are measured not by years, but by moments.  It is because of the generosity of organizations like the BMO Vancouver Marathon that children and families facing life-threatening illnesses in BC can have these moments with each other, whether it’s a jam session in music therapy, a few bites of a Canuck Place cookie or a even an exhilarating ride down a zipline in the Okanagan.  Canuck Place children and families live with courage, and our wonderful donors are the reason why!

“I will forever be grateful for all the services and for all the amazing staff at Canuck Place,” says Canuck Place mom Amy, whose 22-month-old daughter Gabrielle is on the Canuck Place program.  “This facility is very near and dear to our hearts as it has provided such incredible care to Gabrielle, who was diagnosed at birth with a rare genetic disease called I-cell.  It has been an incredible source of support for not only my daughter, but for our entire family.  We’ve used the facility for family respite where my two sons have enjoyed playing with all the volunteers and connecting with the staff, and where Gabrielle has received some of the finest care from the nurses and doctors.  As a family, we always look forward to visiting Canuck Place – it feels like a second home and we feel so blessed to have access to such a supportive community.”

Canuck Place parents Matt and Cherie feel the same way: “As parents of a child with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, we feel very fortunate to be on the program at Canuck Place.  It’s a great source of support and respite, especially after long hospital stays with our daughter, Charlie-Anne.  Charlie-Anne loves it here – she gets to participate in great social activities, play in comfortable surroundings and, of course, snack on the famous cookies.  As a family we feel at ease every time we walk through the doors, and truly think of it as a home away from home.”  Jennifer, bereaved mom from Kelowna, writes that her family, along with her son, Kaden, truly lived while on the Canuck Place program.  “We created family memories and now have a beautiful album full of experiences that we otherwise would have not had, if we had not been given the opportunities that Canuck Place provided us with.”

Your donation to Canuck Place Children’s Hospice ensures that high-quality pediatric palliative care continues to be delivered to the BC community – and that kids like Gabrielle, Charlie-Anne and Kaden and their families have moments that will be cherished for years to come.

For more information, please visit www.canuckplace.org.

Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CanuckPlaceChildrensHospice.

Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/canuckplace.

Subscribe to our Youtube channel at www.youtube.com/canuckplace.

Guest Blog Featuring: Lopez-Duran family

Running is something that engages and you realize that you don’t only run for good health but for pleasure and with the intention of showing yourself that you can run faster and for a long amount of time. You mark goals and join competitions. First 5k, then 10k, a half marathon, and finally, the dream of every runner: a marathon.

Me debut would be in Spain, in Zaragoza, where I live with my family. I am originally from Venezuela. My parents, Tulio (70) and Gladys (68) live in Venezuela. My brother Luis (43) and my younger sister Ana Maria (36) also live in Venezuela with their own families. Instead, my brother Tulio (44) and my other brother Juan Carlos (41) have been living in Vancouver for approximately one year. The two of them do not stop talking about how wonderful the city is. We maintain almost always daily contact with each other thanks to the new technologies.

Since I’ve stared running regularly we have been talking a lot about the topic of running. All of my brothers and my sister have be running for many years. One day, my brothers decided that we should a run a marathon together. Tulio, Luis and Juan Carlos had already run several. My sister and me were the only ones left. So Tulio signed everyone in the 2012 Vancouver Marathon. It would be very special because for 10 years, since my sister’s wedding, we haven’t gathered all together. We all wanted to see each other and we all wanted to get to know Vancouver. And what better excuse than to run with all your brothers that you haven’t seen in a long time? In addition, our father turned 70 years on April 13th and as a gift we gave him a ticket to Vancouver. So that way he can receive us on the finish line.

Tulio, the most experienced runner, sent us the email with the training. 16 weeks of training passed and we all gave the best we could. Tulio was fighting against the cold weather of Vancouver, which he was not used to as his swollen fingers in his hands show. Luis was struggling against an old injury caused by a soccer practice. Juan Carlos, a film producer, decided that climbing the mountains in Nepal for he’s documentary was enough training. Ana Maria was doing some training with her Spinning classes. And I only lost 1 day of training because of the wind and bad weather in Zaragoza. It was going to be a very long and expensive trip for my first marathon. I had to finish it.

Finally, on May 2nd, in the Vancouver Airport, we all got together again. It was very exciting. Until the day of the race, we did nothing but have a good time sightseeing the city.  And we agreed that our brothers were very lucky to be living in this city.
The day of the race came. The whole family was waiting very anxiously. Not only the one is in Vancouver but also the ones in Venezuela, Spain, and even family in the United States. My sister-in-law, Carolina, Tulio’s wife, was running the half marathon. So that would be 6 people in the family running the same race.

At the last minute my brother Juan Carlos resigned from the race because of back pains, so he dedicated himself to organizing logistics and to upgrade via social network our location at all times. A very special moment was when in one of the many refreshment stations that they had, I realized that the person handing me the cup of water was my nephew, Santiago (8). Him, along with my niece Oriana (7) had volunteered to hand out water to the runners. It was really exciting to see them. At the end we all ended the race. Some arrived first and in better shape than others, as expected. My father was very proud, happy and relieved to see that all of his children had arrived safely. The 2012 Vancouver Marathon will be an unforgettable experience and will pass in the history of a normal family from Venezuela that remains very close no matter the distance that separates us.

Guest Blog Featuring: Ellie Greenwood

The BMO Vancouver Marathon was the best possible way I could think of to celebrate moving back to Vancouver. The fact that I moved just eight days before the race, was able to catch up with a ton of friends made it a very special homecoming. That I won the marathon made it all unforgettable.

OK, so I’m an ultra runner who mostly runs on trails. But, I do love to road run too, and it was simply too much to resist to not run the BMO Vancouver Marathon.

It possibly was not the best move as I really need to be getting long trail runs to prep for Western States 100 miler in June. But, Vancouver’s new point-to-point route is scenically stunning. Overall, I highly recommend this as a great destination marathon.

The weather was perfect, cool and sunny, ideal for my Sundog Eyewear Dialed Mela-Lens™ sunglasses. When racing it is important to keep as relaxed as possible and being able to clearly see the trail or road ahead without squinting or straining my eyes plays a huge part. In brilliant sunshine, high-quality eye protection is a must. My Sundogs are lightweight, with great lens, and feel like I am not wearing them.

It was lots of fun running through the various Vancouver neighbourhoods, each with memories of run groups I’ve run with over the years.  UBC & Kits for Forerunners, Burrard Bridge for PRR, and the Stanley Park seawall for Vancouver Falcons.

I had no expectation to win and was surprised even when I first heard I was in 3rd place, having expected to be in about 5th.  When a spectator called out I was in 2nd I corrected them and said I was in 3^rd. But, they were right, as 2nd place female had dropped out.  I still didn’t expect to win, thinking 1st place would be miles ahead. But, I saw her at about 12 km to go and my friend Katherine Moore shouted at me to go catch her. (Thanks for the encouragement Kat!)  This was an awesome way to run – no pressure, no expectations – until 12 kms to go when I hauled as hard as I could.

It took me until about 7 km to go to take the lead.  I would try but Mary Akor would take the inside bend tight forcing me out to run wide and lose distance.  She would also surge so much I knew I couldn’t keep up at that surging pace. But, I heard her breathing much harder than me and at 7 km to go and on about the 10th surge I cracked it and passed her.  I made a decisive split to try to build a lead. I knew my ‘ultra’ legs would not be up for a sprint on the final stretch so I needed to make a move and make a gap now. I felt pretty gutsy going past Mary who is an Olympic Trials qualifier with a PB around 2:37, but I kept my cool and was thinking elite strategy I’ve listened to on Marathon Talk pod cast (thanks for the tips Martin & Tom!)

Once in the lead, I just wanted to get to my PRR buddies who were manning a water station at Lumberman’s Arch.  It was a mini goal before the finish line and I needed some cheering as much as some Gatorade (thanks guys).  I was counting each and every km marker at this point.

For the final 12 kms or so, I only looked at my pace on my Garmin about once. Sometimes it’s not about your time, but more about your position. Once I knew it was possible I could win this race, I so wanted to.  I thought that it’d be a pretty cool homecoming….and it was.

Thank you so much to everyone at the BMO Vancouver Marathon and all the great volunteers who gave up their weekend to make this event happen – 15,000 runners can be pretty demanding!  Big thanks also to Lynn Kanuka (Elite coordinator) and Jordan Myers (RD) for all your hard work, making the BMO Vancouver Marathon such a great event. But, biggest thank you of all to all my friends – so great to see you all again.

Canadian Press Images

Bio: Ellie Greenwood, Sundog Eyewear Brand Ambassador
Date of Birth: March 14, 1979
Place of Birth: Dundee, Scotland
Current Home town: North Vancouver,BC
Primary Race Distance: Anything from 50km to 100 miles
Other hobbies or sports: Skiing, snowshoeing, travel, writing about running!
Six-word bio… Work hard, run hard, have fun.
What inspires you?  Pushing myself to be the best runner I can possibly be, setting new challenge in terms of distances, terrain and speed. My Montrail teammates!
What advice would you give to newcomers to (your sport) today? Find some buddies to share the trails with and go have fun. Don’t be afraid to ask more experienced trail and ultra runners for advice. Set some goals that will challenge you but work you way up gradually so as to not overwhelm yourself before you are ready for longer and tougher races.
Career Highlights
June 2011, Western States 100 miler – 1st place female
Nov 2010, IAU World 100km (Gibraltar) – 1st place female
August 2010, Canadian Death Race (Grande Cache, AB) – 1st place female
Female Ultrarunner of the Year 2011 (voted by Ultrarunning magazine)

BMO Cheer & Community Music Winners

Congratulations to the BMO Cheer Challenge & Community Music Challenge Winners!

2012 BMO Cheer Challenge Winners:
1st Place: lululemon athletica (Prize money benefiting L’Arche Greater Vancouver)
2nd Place: Adrenaline Allstars
3rd Place: Eric Hamber Griffins Football Program
Honorable Mention: Starbucks District 225 (Prize money benefiting BC Childhood Cancer Parents’ Association)
Honorable Mention: ‘NSTEP
Honorable Mention: Vancouver Street Soccer League

2012 Community Music Challenge Winners:
1st Place: The Carnival Band
2nd Place: Chibi Taiko
3rd Place: Freddy Fuddpucker
Honorable Mention: Vancouver Travelling Band
Honorable Mention: Moonshine Express
Honorable Mention: West Meets West

Groups were judged by a panel of Guest Judges based on three categories: Energy & Spirit, Uniqueness & Creativity, and Spectator Engagement. Check our website for a full list of ALL participants;  who were all fantastic! And, keep an eye on our Facebook Page where more photos will be uploaded very soon. Thank you to everyone who participated!

2012 Official Winners

Official Winners
Hats off to the official winners of the BMO Vancouver Marathon! One event course record was established in the Half Marathon by Kip Kangogo who finished first beating the past record set in 2009 by Willy Kimosop.

2012 BMO Vancouver Marathon Final Results:

Marathon Male
1st – Gezahgn Eshetu, Ethiopia [2:21:51]
2nd – Benard Onsare, Kenya (Calgary resident) [2:22:16]
3rd – Ryan Day, Shuswap First Nation, BC [2:29:22]
Marathon Female
1st – Ellie Greenwood, Scotland (new resident of North Vancouver, BC) [2:42:16]
2nd – Mary Akor, CA, USA [2:46:01]
3rd – Catrin Jones, Victoria, BC [2:52:11]
Half Marathon Male
1st – Kip Kangogo, Kenya (Lethbridge resident) [1:04:48]
2nd – Willy Kiptoo Kimoso, Kenya (Lethbridge resident) [1:05:07]
3rd – Kibet Rutto, Kenya (Edmonton resident) [1:06:28]
Half Marathon Female
1st – Natasha Wodak-Fraser, Port Moody, BC [1:15:12]
2nd – Allison Macsas, Austin, TX [1:15:31]
3rd – Lucy Smith, Vancouver, BC [1:18:38]

Gezahgn Eshetu
Photo Credit: CP Images

Guest Blog Featuring: 2DreamRunners

Have you ever stood at the finish line of a long race and watched everyone come in?

If I were to go back 10 years, Karen and athlete would not be in the same sentence. If I could go back just 1 year from today, I definitely would have never called myself a runner. I have been an aerobic, kickboxing, weightlifting, and walking enthusiast. That is how I transformed myself from unhealthy heavy sadness to a fit, confident woman.

Over the years, I have learned to mix my routines up to keep them interesting, and maintain the lifestyle I’ve grown addicted to, but I didn’t think I’d ever choose running.  It looks hard, it feels hard, and I was scared to face the fact that I wasn’t as fit as I could become. I might not be good at it. People may laugh at me when they see how slow I am. Wow, suddenly the fears of my youth resurface.

Barry started running in the winter of 2010/2011. He was training for the 2011 BMO Vancouver Half Marathon. I was inspired watching him train. I watched him get faster, stronger, and I got to celebrate with him as he reached personal best marks with distance and time. He looked amazing and was (and still is) so happy.   While he was training, we decided to sign up for a 10k run together that fell 1 month after Vancouver. I didn’t think I had to train to run a 10k.  I clearly did not have a true understanding of the sport. Thankfully, Barry’s persistent encouragement for me to at least train a little bit paid off.

I started running mid April 2011. It was hard. I learned very quickly, that I wouldn’t be great at it just because I was fit. So what was interesting was that even though I didn’t like that I wasn’t good at it, I grew increasingly inspired to get better. As I saw with Barry, practice makes your body respond. So I began practicing.

The most inspiring time for me was Barry’s race day. He had been present for all his rehearsals. He knew exactly what his race plans were, and this was his time to shine. His celebration of his fitness. This was his performance. I felt so proud of him.  As our two teenagers and I found a superb viewing area, I couldn’t help to notice all the people. They were lining up by the thousands. They were all ages, sizes, heights, widths, elite, and regular folk, and they were all celebrating their fitness together. The streets were closed to traffic, and musicians and volunteers were plentiful, all in honour of the runners. And all of the runners were having their personal victories of the journeys they had discovered on their paths to this celebratory day. The energy was unstoppable excitement. I remember feeling envious that I wasn’t in the lineup. I wanted to be part of that. I wanted to celebrate my fitness too!

When we were eagerly awaiting Barry’s arrival at the finish line, I noticed something else incredible. All shapes and sizes and ages and regular folk were crossing at the same time. The same thing was in their eyes. Pride! Well deserved pride and victory when the finish line is there, and their loved ones are there to greet them.

Then we spotted Barry and he spotted us too, and an overwhelming sense of pride wooshed over me, as my eyes welled up with tears. We cheered him in like the superstar he was!  I craved the victory that Barry and so many others felt that day, and that was stronger than my fear, so that’s when I decided to practice running more.

We started 2DreamRunners to build a network of people participating in healthy living lifestyles with an emphasis on helping others!  It is our hope that we can gather energy from many and focus it on helping others through the positive energy of health and wellness. Our fundraising journey appropriately starts on the new courses of the event that so inspired us last year – the BMO Vancouver Marathon.   The Vancouver Marathon has a long history of supporting charity organizations in British Columbia. This year is no different with the Marathon having 5 charity partners: the BC Cancer Foundation, Canuck Place, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Ronald McDonald House BC or the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society.

Run Van is the first of 3 running events of our 2DreamRunners 2012 campaign to support Make-A-Wish by raising $8,000 to grant a wish for a child with a life-threatening medical condition.  For us, the marathons symbolize in a very small way, the challenge that these children face – although the kids didn’t choose their path. Barry will be running the full and I will be running the half marathon. We feel lucky to take part in “RUN VAN”!

If you’d like to support the 2DreamRunners you can click here and choose 2DreamRunners 2012 under support a specific BC Campaign and complete the rest of the donation form.

2DreamRunners Founders Karen and Barry

Bio: Barry & Karen Wilson from Salmon Arm are working with their two high school age children, Jake and Cassidy, to make dreams come true through the positive energy of health and wellness. They hope to gather energy from many and focus it on helping others – especially those in need.