On Sunday I participated in the 5k Run for the Cure. Not only did I raise $257, but I also beat my personal record and completed in 30 minutes and 8 seconds! According to CTV an estimated 10,000 people participated and an estimated $30 million is expected to be raised across Canada.

I made the decision to participate in this run back in August as I had already started running in June. I had never really considered what I was running for, if I was running to participate in races, or if I was running for me. This run had made me realise that running to raise money is fun, but from what I saw 10,000 runners was more than enough people! At the beginning it was quite congested and I found it hard to get a good pace going.

Never the less, the participants in this run were an inspiration for me. To see people have names and pictures of breast cancer patients on their t-shirts did make it an emotional day. There was a very strong air of determination and togetherness from everyone there.

I found the last 1k to be the most emotional. As soon as I saw it was the last leg of the race I text my fiancé (yes, whilst running) to say I was nearly finished, put my power song on and ran as fast as my little legs would take me whilst looking at the families and individuals around me all thinking about the reason why we were running.

At the finish line, when asked how I felt, I replied, “Can I go again?”