Chinese Canadian Library Weblog

On September 30th, 2007, Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure raised $26.5 million. This year’s Run attracted more than 170,000 Canadians in 53 communities across the country. In Vancouver, more than 12,000 people braved the unrelenting rain for the worthy cause.

Do you know that 215 Librarians Run for the Cure team members participated in the event from 19 different Run Sites across Canada? They also raised a total of $38,750. The Toronto Run Site had the most team members with 32 participants in total. The Edmonton Run Site raised the most money with a $9705 total.
In Vancouver, Mr. Todd Mundle (Associate Librarian – SFU) raised $1272.34 and made it to the Top Five Individual Fundraisers among all the Librarians Run for the Cure national team members. Todd also ran a very impressive 20:30 time for the 5 km course. Ms. Frances Main (Research Specialist – Canada Revenue Agency) and her husband completed the course in less than 30 minutes. Well done, Todd, Frances and Ian!

September 30th was a beautiful, sunny day in the rest of the country, but it rained heavily in Vancouver. According to the event MC, this was the first year that it rained in Vancouver’s 16-year Run for the Cure history. The grim weather might have slowed down some people, but it did not deter any of the determined crowd from completing the 5 km route.

This was my fourth year participating in this event, but my first year as a walker. Due to the heavy rain, the race looked like a race of colorful umbrellas and ponchos, to borrow the MC’s phrase. It was very heart-warming and inspirational to walk among men and women of all ages – from high school students to seniors. Walking in the rain, I saw families from different ethnic/cultural backgrounds, friends from different neighbourhoods or schools, colleagues from various organizations, and kids with their parents and grandparents. Many people dedicated their Run to a close family member, a teacher, a colleague, or to a toddler daughter -to eradicate breast cancer from her future vocabulary. At the end of the day, the soaked t-shirts, pants and shoes felt like a badge of honour for many people. I felt motivated to participate again in future years regardless of the weather!

Mark October 5th, 2008 on your calendar for next year’s Run. I hope to see many of you on the Librarians Run for the Cure – Vancouver team. For more information, please contact:

Linda Yan
Team Captain for Vancouver
Research Specialist at the Canada Revenue Agency
Email: yanlb@yahoo.com

http://units.sla.org/chapter/cwcn/wwest/v11n1/article_yan.shtml