Run for a Reason — Virtual Edition
May 1 – 31, 2021
Even though we can’t all be together this year, every step you take will help support world-class patient care and leading-edge research at The Ottawa Hospital. You can RUN or WALK – anywhere you want – to make sure every patient has access to the most advanced lifesaving treatment when they need it most. It could be your father, sister, son, colleague, or friend.
Let’s move in 2021!
Whether you register for the 2 km, 5 km, 10 km, half marathon, or marathon, you will be a part of a meaningful experience through the virtual Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend. You can make it even more special by creating a virtual team with work colleagues, family, or friends and run or walk in support of The Ottawa Hospital.
NEW! The Bytown Team Challenge
Our friends at Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend have created a new and exciting challenge for you! Register your team to the Bytown Team Challenge – run or walk 2km, 5km, and 10km. There are three different team categories and prizes for the each top team! Learn more.
Our Champions
I run for my breast cancer patients.
Every day, breast surgical oncologist Dr. Erin Cordeiro meets a new patient facing a cancer diagnosis. She thinks of them as she leaves The Ottawa Hospital’s Rose Ages Breast Health Centre at the end of the day – she often thinks of them as she laces up and heads out for an evening run. Those patients inspire her to fundraise for The Ottawa Hospital at Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend. They are her reason for running.
Dr. Cordeiro’s practice is exclusive to treating patients with breast disease, primarily breast cancer.
“I see patients every day who are going through the challenges of a cancer diagnosis and every day of my life is very humbling. I am very grateful for the health I have and no one should take that for granted. I want to do anything I can to help – that’s why I’m running.”
Dr. Cordeiro first learned about Run for a Reason when she spotted a poster in the hospital three years ago. She knew it was a great fit and registered to support cancer research at The Ottawa Hospital.
“Seeing patients go through a cancer diagnosis or chemotherapy, and the strength that they show in facing the hardest thing they may ever have to face is what really inspires me. No matter how long of a run I have to do, I know it’s nothing compared to what my patients are going through daily, fighting for their lives.”
Research also motivates Dr. Cordeiro, as her work involves studies at The Ottawa Hospital. “My research involves quality improvement initiatives at the Rose Ages Breast Health Centre. We are constantly striving to improve the care we provide to breast health patients. We’re examining quality metrics and programmatic changes to ensure we’re providing the best breast cancer care in the country.”
Since she first registered for Run for a Reason in 2018, Dr. Cordeiro has participated in triathlons and has used the race as a training opportunity. Finding a way to give back to her patients and to attain her athletic goals, The Ottawa Hospital’s Run for a Reason is the perfect fit for Dr. Cordeiro.
I run for my daughters’ future.
I’ve been the captain of Team Rob for seven years. The team was formed when my husband, Rob, was diagnosed with cancer and began receiving care at The Ottawa Hospital. When Rob passed away in 2015, we wanted his legacy to continue with Team Rob.
In 2018, the team surpassed a fundraising milestone, raising $20,000 for cancer research at The Ottawa Hospital. Once again, this year, the team will bring together family, friends and colleagues to build hope for the future.
Cancer has taken too much away from my daughters, Charlotte and Lily, and I won’t let it be a part of their future. That’s why the funds we raise support cancer research, to others in the future.
I run to help other patients.
In 1996, I was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 46. A year later, I had a bone marrow transplant at The Ottawa Hospital. I remember being told my chance of survival was 40% but my two children, who were young at the time, told me I wouldn’t die because I was ‘too strong’.
Twenty-three years later, here I am still going strong. The care I received from Dr. Lothar Huebsch and his team was excellent—it was incredible. I’ve had other health scares crop up over the years, including a blood clot in my stomach in 2012, which resulted in surgery. Since then, I’ve had some issues with balance, which is why I now use a walker. But I’ve never been willing to let these challenges slow me down.
I’ve always stayed fit—I live for that runner’s high. That’s partly why I do the run. I want to live a full life and I know physical activity is helping me achieve that. I also do the run because of my desire to give back to other patients, in particular through the Little Angels Blood Cancer Fund. This helps ease the financial burden of patients who have to travel a significant distance for their treatment. I know what they go through and I just want to help them in the future.
Once again this year, I’ll be doing another marathon with my walker—I walk fast! It will be my seventh marathon using my walker. I not only want to raise more money to support The Ottawa Hospital but I also want to qualify for the Boston Marathon some day, so that’s motivating me too. My quest is to inspire others to do the same–it doesn’t have to be a marathon but to simply be active and live life to the fullest.