Jay Burnside’s return to running came just short of a year since she lost her right leg following a medical procedure.
“It’s been 356 days,” she said after completing the eight-kilometre event at the Royal Victoria Marathon Sunday.
She and wife Michelle Marshall are long-time running enthusiasts.
“Before losing my leg, we used to be running all the time,” Burnside said. “We’ve done 73 half-marathons and three marathons, so it’s really important for me to try to get to what I was able to do before.”
She said she ran “little bits” of the 8K route and walked the rest.
“I’m just at the very start of learning to run again with a prosthetic and it’s not easy. It’s still painful when I try to run.”
Marshall, who accompanied Burnside, said she was inspired by her effort.
“I’ve seen her at the worst moments in the past year and it’s been quite a hellish journey back, and I applaud her for what she’s done.”
Erin Topelko, who is with the Sooke Fire Department, and Katherine Knott, a member of the East Sooke Fire Department, decided to take on an added challenge to the 8K by donning heavy firefighting gear.
Knott’s load was the heavier of the two at about 34 kilograms, with both managing to run the whole way.
“We usually run the 10K every year, the Times Colonist 10K, but because it got cancelled I wanted to at least try and get some fitness culture into our hall,” Knott said.
Topelko said there was a great atmosphere on the course.
“It was so amazing out there,” she said. “That’s the most energized I’ve ever been on a run.”
There was no official team category this year, but that didn’t stop some people from taking part as a group. Among them were the Pender Pacers, whose shirts were emblazoned with the motto “It’s Just A Hill. Get Over it.”
Jordyn McCrea, who ran the half-marathon, said she was happy to get an in-person running event under her belt after a long time away due to COVID-19.
“I can’t think of the last one I did,” she said.
McCrea said that being part of a large field of runners again was quite a switch.
“It was cool and a little bit weird, too,” she said. “I’m not used to being that close to people anymore.”
The half-marathon and 8K were the only events of the day, with organizers deciding to wait another year for the city’s first post-COVID marathon.
Approximately 4,400 people took part —about 2,700 in the half-marathon and 1,700 in the 8K.
The large group of volunteers making everything go as planned included 84-year-old Evan Fagan, a veteran of 150 marathons who was handing out finishers’ medals. He said he likes being around running events as both a volunteer and a participant, and knew a lot of the participants Sunday.
Fagan ran his first marathon Victoria in 1988.
“My last full marathon was in 2019,” he said. “It was in Honolulu, I’ve done Honolulu about eight or nine times.”
But Victoria is his favourite, said Fagan, who keeps up his fitness by running two or three times a week.”
Victoria Marathon Society president Jonathan Foweraker said it was good to see a sunny day for the runners.
“It makes the views pretty spectacular along Dallas Road.”
Foweraker ended up with a bit of extra duty Sunday when the person scheduled to sing the anthem at the start of the half-marathon was unable to make it.
“I’ve done a bit singing in the past so I just stepped up and grabbed the mic.”
He said his last time singing in public was about 30 years ago in England when he was in a church choir.
Asked if he would do it again, he said: “I don’t know, I’ll see if I get any offers.”
