Help Morgan raise money

Welcome to my fundraising page!

If you are new here, hi! My name is Morgan and I am running my first marathon this year in honour of my Grampa (Chuck Strahl) who passed away last August. While he was known to many others for his political career as an MP, I will always remember him as my biggest cheerleader, the one who was always ready to take on a new project, and obsessed with my Gramma and us grandkids. 

I have always wanted to run a marathon. Many of my family members, including my Grampa, have run marathons before and so this felt like the right time to run one. Oddly enough, one of my last conversations with Grampa was about the convenience and enjoyment of running. 

Running has been my go to tool for when life has felt overwhelming. When my Grampa first got diagnosed with cancer when I was six, running was the easiest way for me to try and abolish all of the pain and anxiety that I felt. I carried this weight of anticipatory grief for the past 18 years while my Grampa fought cancer and continued loving our family. Last year as his health declined, I continued to turn to running but with more tenderness and softness. It became a way for me to feel and express all of the pain and grief instead. 

When my Grampa died in August, I had hopes that grief would make me a "less emotional" runner. However, I found the opposite to be true. Long distance running has been the most beautiful and brutal mirror of the grief I now live with. 

"So obviously I had to train for a marathon", I said. I believe that this is a part of me that reminds me most of my Grampa. It is the go big or go home part of me. I love that it is part of how I got into this whole mess. 

While the training for this marathon has been long and arduous, I am grateful for these runs. They are continual reminders of who I am running for and all of the hard work I have done to get to this point. Every time I run I am reminded of the reality and heaviness of my grief. Running is how I grieve. 

I am running this May in honour of my Grampa first and foremost. I am also running for those currently in the midst of anticipatory grief or those who have recently lost someone to cancer. 

My hope is that in supporting BC Cancer greater care and research can go into supporting more folks and loved ones going through some of the most brutal treatments imaginable. It is also my hope that my story resonates with some of you and perhaps make you feel less alone. Cancer is hard. Grief is hard.