A crowd of nearly 15,000 runners, walkers, cyclists and wheelchair athletes made a Sunday morning pilgrimage to the Chinook Centre parking lot to take part in a fundraiser benefiting the province’s most vulnerable members, infant patients at the province’s neonatal intensive care units (NICU).
The 2015 running of the Sport Chek’s Mother’s Day Run, Walk and Ride was the first without the event’s founder John Forzani, who passed away in October
“It started 38 years ago with John,” explains Todd Birss, general manager of the Forzani Foundation. “It went from 200 people to where we are now, close to 15,000.”
The absence of John Forzani, a former CFL player turned prominent Calgary businessman and philanthropist, prompted a flood of emotions from organizers, volunteers and participants.
“It’s gonna be a different feel, that’s for sure, without having the big guy here” said Birss prior to the start of the race. “We kind of went through a span where we lost Audrey (the Forzani family matriarch) and then now we’ve lost John.”
For Birss, the fundraising run benefits a worthy cause which he holds dear to his heart.
His twin sons, Ryan and Brendan, were born extremely premature at 26 gestational weeks. The boys spent the first two months of their lives in NICU, followed by a month long stint in the special care nursery, and two months at home on oxygen.
The twin boys recently celebrated their tenth birthday.
Birss was not alone in his praise for the work of the staff of Alberta’s NICUs.
Runner Loni Armitage had first had experience with the doctors, nurses and support staff in April of 2013.
“Our (twin) girls spent 26 days in the NICU so this event means a lot to us,” said Loni. “We weren’t able to bring them home and they spent their first few weeks of life there and they were taken care of amazingly by the doctors and nurses. It was hard but (the NICU staff) made it easier for us.”
Loni says her participation in the fundraising run is a way to support those who supported her family.
“We wanted to give back because they gave so much to us. We know that is costs a lot of money every day for one child to be in there. This is a small thing that we can do to help them out.”
Loni ran alongside her husband, mother-in-law, father-in-law, and her twin girls.
The mother-daughter team of Cathie and Lindsay Snelgrove from Airdrie spent their Mother’s Day morning together as participants in the fundraising walk.
“I was fortunate enough not to have to use (the NICU) but I know people who have and it’s been a fantastic resource for them,” said Cathie.
Support for the 2015 Sport Chek Mother’s Day Run and Walk was not limited to the fundraising efforts of the runners, walkers and cyclists. A crew of approximately 800 volunteers ensured the event went off without a hitch and organizers say they had to turn away people who wanted to donate their time to help the cause.
The Calgary event coincides with the 20th annual Mother's Day Run, Walk and Ride in Edmonton.
