Help Katrina raise money

I am training for and running this half marathon to raise funds for the BC Cancer Foundation in honour of my dear friend, Sarah Williams, who passed away from neuroendocrine pancreatic cancer on June 2, 2024, after a brave three-year battle.

Sarah was my friend long before being diagnosed. Losing her at 29 years old is the most difficult loss of my life and has completely changed me as a person. It changed how I think about time, challenges, and fear. Sarah did the hardest thing a person can do, by fighting with everything she had against something beyond her control, while still managing to carry herself with positivity, strength, and even moments of levity and laughter. 

Over the past couple of years, I’ve been navigating grief while searching for meaningful ways to honour the life she lived beyond cancer. Sarah was adventurous, always open to new experiences, and someone who embraced life fully. Since meeting her, she has always been the person I think of when I’m making big decisions or trying something new. She always encouraged taking the risk, doing the hard thing, or committing to the adventure. 

Building on the fitness and health journey I’ve been on the past couple of years, it seemed fitting to pursue one of my lifelong goals of running a half marathon in honour of her. I’ve never been a distance runner, so while this may seem like a simple/easy task to some, it’s significant to me. 

Although Sarah was born in Saskatchewan, raised in Alberta, and ultimately passed at Rosedale Hospice in Calgary, I am choosing to raise money for BC Cancer Foundation to honour the time she spent in BC. It’s here where our friendship blossomed, it’s here where most of our memories are together and she is here, everywhere I look, in the cherry blossoms, in the snow capped north shore mountains and the sunsets on the beach. 

This run is just one of the many ways I will continue to honour her life, each and every day.