For Samantha (Sam) O’Neill of Ajax, Ont., working wasn’t only a pastime; it represented energy and some way for her to connect with her group.
On Sunday, hundreds of runners will lace up for the 2023 TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon and Part-Marathon, and amongst them can be Sam’s father, Jim O’Neill, who will run the half-marathon accompanied by means of his daughter, Sydney, and a gaggle of 60 friends and family in Sam’s reminiscence.
Sam died in April at age 34 after a year-long fight with cervical most cancers. Her father’s initiative, the Keep Gold, Sam marketing campaign, targets to assist others keep away from experiencing the similar destiny that she confronted. “I would possibly now not were in a position to avoid wasting my daughter, however I’m decided to avoid wasting the lives of others like her by means of encouraging other folks to get examined,” says Jim. The Keep Gold Sam marketing campaign has to this point raised greater than $15,000 for the Canadian Most cancers Society, supporting cervical most cancers consciousness.
Sam’s working tale started in 2009 as an informal half-marathon festival between her and her dad, which briefly reworked right into a life-changing adventure, involving Sam finishing 11 marathons and coaching to qualify for the Boston Marathon sooner than she was once recognized with terminal most cancers. Her adventure was once full of willpower and tenacity, as Jim and Sam participated in a lot of marathons in combination. Toronto held a different position in Sam’s middle, and the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon was once the place her marathon adventure started. It was once the primary marathon she and Jim ran in combination, and in 2021, she labored the development for Canada Operating Sequence, including to its importance in her lifestyles.
“Operating was once her interest and her way of living,” says Jim. “She was once all the time coaching or searching for her subsequent race, and she or he had the chance to take part in a wide range around the nation.” When Sam packed up her lifestyles in Ontario and moved to Vancouver, she didn’t know many of us, however in an instant discovered her position inside the East Van Run Workforce (EVRC), a gaggle that mixed her love for working, socializing and the occasional beer.
Sam liked the sense of group and belonging that the game gave her, and this connection deepened when she started running with Canada Operating Sequence (CRS). “She was once unbelievable,” says Charlotte Brookes, nationwide tournament director. “I have in mind interviewing her for the communications function, and she or he immediately blew me away. The relationship she had with us was once deep. Her dad mentioned she felt this was once her dream activity.”
The reaction from the working group to the efforts of the O’Neill circle of relatives to honour Sam on the 2023 TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon has been not anything wanting outstanding. “The working group is understood for its unwavering improve, and Sam’s tale exemplifies the best way working opens doorways to significant and lasting connections,” says Jim. “Seven other folks have flown in from Vancouver to run the half-marathon with the East Van Run Workforce.”
EVRC additionally hosted a party of lifestyles in Sam’s honour, demonstrating the profound have an effect on Sam had at the working group.
“All of us confronted impossible demanding situations and feelings all through Sam’s adventure with cervical most cancers,” says Jim. “Coping with a terminal sickness is a harrowing revel in for any individual, however witnessing my daughter’s decision to not let the sickness outline her was once actually inspiring. Sam’s focal point was once on dwelling with most cancers moderately than succumbing to it.”
All donations to the Keep Gold Sam marketing campaign will without delay give a contribution to cervical most cancers analysis in the course of the Canadian Most cancers Society.