Skip to content

Thrill of a lifetime

It takes determination and dedication to run a 42 kilometer marathon. But to run in the New York City marathon, one of the world's greatest road races, along with more than 100,000 participants, takes a very special type of person.

It takes determination and dedication to run a 42 kilometer marathon. But to run in the New York City marathon, one of the world's greatest road races, along with more than 100,000 participants, takes a very special type of person. Sandy Logan, a registered physiotherapist practicing on Bowen Island, trained for 4 1/2 months and accomplished her goal by crossing this historic finish line on November 6.

"Mine were among the thousands of pairs of happy feet that wound their way through the five boroughs on a spectacular sunny day.The crowds that lined the challenging course were enormously supportive and the multitude of bands and banners did much to motivate us as we tackled the hilly bits. It was a wonderful street party celebrating the completion of many months of training," says Logan.

The hardest part of the training for Logan was waking up early on Sunday mornings, when most people would still be in bed she would run even when the weather was at its darkest and dreariest. Staying healthy and injury-free was a challenge as she nursed atweaked knee but she never lost focus of her main objectives. Accomplishing such a race would have been enough for most people but not for Logan, who wanted to do still more. She said, "To make my training more interesting this year, I would drop a Loonie in the kitty for every kilometer I've run. As the distances grew, so did the kitty and a new dream was formed to donate the money to the good folks at Bowen Court to help them with urgent building repairs."

Pam Stimpson, president of the Bowen Island Seniors Housing Cooperative at Bowen Court, was "gobsmacked" when she opened the envelope that Logan gave her earlier in the week. She couldn't believe the sizable donation Logan had raised in such a short period of time. After Bowen Court was refused a municipal grant for $13, 000 (they were told that they did not qualify), the disappointed cooperative was concerned about the restoration the building required. Stimpson was overjoyed with the generosity of Logan's selfless deed and said, "These funds will be placed into our very much depleted reserve funds, to be used to care for the building which is old and needs many repairs."

According to Olympian Jeff Galloway, only about 1 per cent of the population actually finish a full marathon, so Logan is amongst an elite group of runners. Along with her altruistic nature and her concern for others, this has placed her at the top of the podium for many Bowen Islanders. "I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who made contributions and who supported me through the long months of training," Logan said, "We raised close to $2400 for the fund. My heart is full."

DEBRA STRINGFELLOW

contributing writer