…from Canada…

The winner of the More.ca contest is 51 year old Cathy Belic.  She’s coming to Negril for Reggae Marathon December 1 with her husband Rick and More.ca magazine’s Jenn Gruden.  I’m looking forward to meeting them Friday night at the Pasta Party at the Couples Swept Away Sporting Complex.

To say Cathy is thrilled  about coming to Jamaica for Reggae Marathon is an understatement:  “I am beyond excited about winning the contest to run in Reggae Marathon…Running is my passion!

Cathy has been running for 11 years.  She has 3 children:  Ryan 26, Tyler 22 and Kayla 21 along with her daughter in law Becky. She and her husband Rick have been happily married for 28 years.

Cathy at Steamtown Marathon

Cathy started running at the age of 40 and ran my first marathon in Amsterdam as part of Team Diabetes Canada.  She was searching for something to make turning 40 memorable and a friend suggested she run a marathon to raise money for a charity.  “It was a double bonus for me because I had a personal goal and a charitable one to keep me motivated” noted Cathy.  She had never run prior to signing up.  Cathy trained for 10 months, surpassed her fundraising goal by thousands and completed the marathon in a time of 4:11. “When I ran into Olympic Stadium and they announced my name  I felt like an Olympian”.

Cathy ran the 89 km Comrades Ultra Marathon in South Africa

with friends in 2010.  By counting that race as 2 marathons, she’s run 52 marathons in the last 11 years.  Cathy has run all over North America from Boston to New York to Disney (the Goofy Challenge of course) as well internationally in Amsterdam and Berlin.  This December she adds Reggae Marathon to her list of international races.

Why does she run?  “My father died of a heart attack at the age of 47 and my mother died of ALS at 65…when I run, I feel blessed that I am able to run…it is a gift”.  She continued “I run races and remember how proud my mom was of me when I ran my first marathon in Amsterdam”.

Running is indeed a gift.  I can’t think of a better reason.  Congratulations Cathy.  See you in Negril December 1.

Until next time…