Six months of hard work is about to pay off for Jill Barr as she gets ready to run her first half-marathon.
“I’ve always been an athlete. I played varsity volleyball in university and now that I’ve retired from that, I’m always kind of searching for that competitive outlet,” said Barr.
She’s one of thousands training for Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend. For her, it’s personal.
She and her team are raising money for the Ottawa Hospital, where she was treated for ovarian cancer when she was 11 years old.
“I went there for my first radiation treatment,” said Barr. “They could sense I was a little bit nervous, so they actually gave me a little plasma car, which is a little scooter bike that I could ride from the entranceway down to the radiation centre, and I have a very fond memory of that. It goes to show how focused the Ottawa Hospital is on patient care.”
It’s stories like Barr’s that are motivating eager participants picking up their race kits ahead of the big day.
Source: Childhood cancer treatment inspires Ottawa woman’s half-marathon fundraiser