Simcoe Run for the Cure raises over $45,000

Rita Wood of Norwich was surrounded by friends and family at Lions Park in Simcoe on Sunday morning for the 2023 CIBC Run for the Cure.

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“We do the Alzheimer’s Walk every year,” said her daughter Sydney Wood of Port Dover, who put together the seven-member team called Running with Rita. “With my mom going through breast cancer this past year we figured out this is the year we’re going to do it and probably make it an annual thing.”

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Rita said she was overwhelmed by the support of family and friends.

“I’m dealing with breast cancer right now and I’m almost done all my treatments,” she shared of her 18-month-long journey with treatments in Woodstock and London. “I have two infusions left so I’m getting there.”

The Marlie’s Angels team – named for the late Marlene Gubbels-Vansloun — had about 20 members who made the trek to Simcoe from Langton, Delhi, Chatham, and Hamilton.

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Hubert Gubbels of Delhi said his wife died from another form of cancer in 2015, but several team members have experienced cancer.

Marlene Vandewiele of Langton said the team had been taking part in the Run for the Cure for many years at Gubbels-Vansloun’s behest because breast cancer ran in her family.

“After she passed, we’ve been running for her,” she said, explaining that Hubert came up with the name Angels because they cared for his wife before the end.

‘I’ve dealt with cancer last year, and another person on our team is dealing with breast cancer as well,” said Vandewiele. “It’s close to home. I think for everyone running (today) they either know someone or lost someone. It touches everyone.”

The Run for the Cure event in Simcoe attracted 145 participants and raised $45,242.

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“With one in eight women (that) will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime we all have a reason to run,” said Matt O’Brien, manager of the Canadian Cancer Society’s Relay for Life Youth Program. “In 2022, 28,900 people were expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer in Canada. Your support is helping them live longer, fuller lives.”

He said Run for the Cure stands as a testament to the power of collective action, and praised CIBC for helping transform the run into the inspiring nationwide movement it is today.

Wheels of Hope were recruiting drivers to take cancer patients to treatments, doctor’s appointments, and anything cancer related.

“We are looking for drivers,” said Charlene Beeson. “The more we get the more people we can take to their treatments.”

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She said she enjoys the camaraderie with the people she transports.

“These are wonderful people. They can’t drive because they’re too sick.”

Before participants headed off on the one- or five-kilometer route, Kathleen Gilchrist of Simcoe shared her journey with cancer that began in March 2020.

“When my family doctor called me and told me I had cancer, all I could think of was I was given a death sentence,” she explained. “But cancer is not a death sentence, but rather a life sentence that pushes one to live.

“I do have scars, but I am proud of them. The scars show that I survived.”

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