Running For a Community
A devastating attack left Wendy Brown in a coma. When she was given a second chance, she started to run and made a difference in her hometown.
No matter their age or ability level, the story of how and why someone began running can tell you a lot about them as a person.
For Wendy Brown of Burns Lake, B.C., her running journey began five years ago, after waking up from coma. She had been severely beaten in a parking lot with her six year-old son standing by. When she woke up two days later, she made the decision to stay positive and make the most of what felt like a second chance.
Brown had run recreationally throughout high school, but took her training to another level after the attack. She recalls picking up a running magazine and reading an article about the Boston Marathon: “I wanted to be the one of those qualifying runners; it became my dream to qualify.”
She moved to Fort St. John, B.C. and started her life over. Then, in 2012, tragedy struck her hometown when the Babine Forest Products sawmill in Burns Lake collapsed. Far away from her family that worked in the mill, Brown was at a loss about what to do to help. She decided to dedicate her movement. Brown planned a 30-hour indoor track event to raise funds for those injured in the accident. “The plan was built from scratch within a few hours,” she says. She later moved back to Burns Lake to be with her family.
Later in 2012, the camp that both of her daughters had attended was at risk of closure due to a lack of funds. Once again, running was the first thing that came to Brown’s mind. She rain 61k in eight-and-a-half hours, raising money through donations. She began to develop a reputation. In 2013, the former mayor of Fort St. John contacted Wendy through Facebook. He had heard of the success of her run for the campers and asked her if she would be willing to lace up her shoes for a cause once again. The 2013 Run for Recovery to raise awareness and funds for the Northern Lights Recovery Centre was born. The cause was close to Brown’s heart. “Drug and alcohol problems in the community have gotten worse since the mill explosion,” Brown reveals. She ran over 350k all over the Peace Region, approximately 33k a day for 12 straight days. She raised over $20,000.
When asked what her advice would be to runners who have a cause that they’d like to support, but don’t know where to start, Brown suggests that you should begin with something attainable. “Start small, but don’t hold back and don’t think for a second that it might sound like an insane idea,” Brown says. “If it comes from the heart, you should follow through. I wrote a list of how I would start and it took off from from there. And don’t try to do it all alone – people always want to help.”– CF