Rankin Cancer Run goes Saturday

Thousands will be lacing up their shoes Saturday for the annual Rankin Cancer Run in St. Catharines. In eight years, the run has raised nearly four million dollars — all dedicated to buying cancer care equipment. While the number of participants has exploded — sadly, so has the number of new diagnosed cancer cases in the Niagara region.

Last fall, Rick Meier felt a pain in his side and lumps on his neck. He thought the pain was a pulled muscle. But the diagnosis turned out to be non-hodgkins lymphoma: “It’s shocking. In 48 years I haven’t been in the hospital for anything.”

Nobody in his family has ever battled cancer: “You hear the cancer word and right away you worry about your future and the kids future.”

Rick’s undergone five months of chemotherapy and the tumours have either disappeared or shrunk. He’s never raised funds for cancer care before either — until this year when his daughter Jenna convinced the family to get involved in the Rankin Cancer Run.

Rick: “There’s so many people touched with cancer in some way.”

Rankin Run Director Mary Ann Edwards: “I have never seen cancer as bad as it is today. Yes, the survival rate is outstanding. But the newly diagnosed has blown out of the ceiling.”

That’s what’s driven Rankin Run Director Mary Ann Edwards over these eight years. She, and an army of unpaid volunteers are getting everything ready for Saturday’s run.  There are eight thousand people registered on teams alone.

Dalewood Public School in St. Catharines has a team. And they held a Rankin Run pep rally Friday afternoon. Rick Meier was there with his son Ben.

To date, the Rankin Run has raised nearly four million dollars. All of it going to hospitals and cancer care centres from Grimsby to Fort Erie.

Mary Ann said: “What can you say anymore. Other than we are so grateful. We never honestly anticipated it would blow out of the sky like it has.”