Jack Gin Family Foundation joins up with organizers
Many young participants will honour memory of youth worker Thompson
When Matt Johnston and about 50 kids from the Ray-Cam Cooperative Centre lace up their shoes for this year’s Vancouver Sun Run, there’ll be excitement and exhilaration, but also sadness and mourning.
That’s because many of the runners will be pounding the pavement in memory of Paul Thompson, a youth worker at the inner-city community centre who died in December.
“He was like a father to a lot of the youth in the Downtown Eastside,” said Johnston, a semi-professional runner turned grassroots runningclub organizer who used to organize a running clinic out of Ray-Cam a decade ago. “He’s probably the most consistent male role model many of the youths would have.”
Johnston left Ray-Cam in 2006 after he moved to Surrey. At Thompson’s memorial service, he reconnected with many of the teens he used to train, now in their mid- to late-20s. In Thompson’s memory, they restarted the RayCam running club and organized a youth team — the aptly named Paul’s Team — to participate in the 33rd annual Vancouver Sun Run on Sunday, April 23.
“It’s come full circle,” said Johnston, noting that many of the kids he had coached are now coaching the kids training for this year’s mini-Sun Run and main 10k race.
With the timing of the race in spring, a time of new life and new beginnings, “we are hoping we can heal as a group through this running initiative. The kids need help healing with the grief and sadness through his loss,” he said.
Another 100 kids — from Kwantlen Park Secondary, Harold Bishop Elementary in Surrey and Thunderbird Community Centre in East Vancouver — will be joining Paul’s Team, and participating in the Sun Run without having to worry about registration fees, thanks in part to the Jack Gin Family Foundation, which is covering the registration fee of about 450 children and teens in the Lower Mainland who otherwise couldn’t afford to participate.
“We’re working with a demographic of kids that can’t support entry fees,” said Johnston. “We’re trying to eliminate any financial barriers.”
Throughout the years, the Vancouver Sun Run has tried to eliminate physical barriers, opening up the race to walker sand participants in wheelchairs or with strollers. It has also worked toward removing financial hurdles and has donated more than $2.5 million in proceeds for various causes since 1985.
The foundation, started in 2008 by Vancouver entrepreneur Jack Gin, focuses on causes relating to children, women, education and health. This year, it partnered with the Vancouver Sun Run after Gin was introduced to the idea of supporting young runners by his friend, Steve Kim, a staunch believer in youth athletics.
“We are excited to be aligning ourselves with such a great event,” said Gin, who issued a challenge to other people or businesses to meet or beat his donation and build on this initiative.
Johnston, a longtime passionate advocate for grassroots and community athletics programs, and a Surrey firefighter, said the Sun Run is more than a way to keep active or lose weight. The benefits go beyond crossing the finish line.
“It hit home for me at Paul’s funeral,” said Johnston, describing the moment he realized the running club he formed 10 years ago created lasting bonds among participants.
“All those nights at Strathcona park, running in the rain and the darkness. It’s the camaraderie of sport. As young adults, they remember those times.”
At a time, too, when many kids are growing up indoors glued to electronic devices, the Sun Run is a chance to get groups together and build community, said Johnston.
“When I walk through the high school in Surrey at Kwantlen Park two to three years later, you would still see kids wearing their Sun Run T-shirt,” he said. “It’s become part of their identity.”
The final registration deadline for youth teams is March 24.