On your mark... get set... GO!

I have registered for the Ottawa Race Weekend 2km Family Run.

Last year Norm and I went and watched our daughters (husband) come across the finish line. I had started chemo and was feeling lousy that day. I told Norm then.. that this year I would be participating. I had not thought of that moment until the race was advertised this year, I remembered my promise to myself.

I started training last week, practising on a 2km route Norm drove out for me.

It is not easy, I sure feel it in my calves, hamstrings and glutes.

For the past year, my body has belonged to surgeons and oncologists, nurses and radiation therapists.

It belonged to my cancer.

By running, I’m reclaiming ownership of my body. Pray my body parts

co-operate!

(I have never been a runner, or even a fan of exercise)

When 146 runners lined up under sunny skies at Carleton University for the first Ottawa Marathon on May 25, 1975, organizers believed they were staging a one-time affair. Few would have thought that almost 30 years later, organizers would be celebrating one of Canada's oldest major marathons boasting not hundreds, but thousands of competitors.

Over the years, other races were added to enhance interest in the race weekend and make it possible for everyone in the community to participate. Now the weekend also includes the half marathon and the 5K and 2K family fun runs/walks.