Every year we run a marathon to raise funds for our Nonprofit, All Access Life, and to showcase to the world there are NO LIMITS!!!
On Sunday, October 15th, 2023, we woke up at 3:30 a.m. and started things off with a much-needed coffee and breakfast. Both of us had only slept for roughly an hour that night 😅
At 5:30 a.m. we met up at the Baurepaire train station and began setting up the Josi adaptive jogging stroller. After transferring Brad into the Josi, Brad's mom and I made sure he was all bundled up since it was a chilly morning!
"I was really spastic due to my nerves and it being so cold outside! I was also really excited for what was to come"
- Brad
At 6:00 a.m. we began our solo 21.1km run!
As we ran in the pitch dark we were both super excited for the journey ahead! We began blasting music on our Bluetooth speaker and yelling NO LIMITS as we jogged our way down the empty bike path.
Roughly 5km into our run, we saw some people off in the distance gathered at a train station.
“Danny and I were overwhelmed with emotions as we approached the crowd of supporters, many of them were from my elementary school Mackay!”
- Brad
We were greeted with cheers, cowbells, and lollipop drums as we ran by! This definitely gave us a boost in energy and motivation. Our early morning cheer team then got into their cars and drove by us, hooking their horns and giving us some more cheers as they made their way to the next train station to do it all over again. Their dedication to cheering us on this early in the morning means the world to us.
“The lollipop drums were nostalgic and so cool because I used to play with lollipop drums when I was young! ”
- Brad
Halfway into our run, we witnessed a spectacular sunrise! The sun re-energized and warmed us as it glistened on our faces. We began running in the middle of the empty streets to experience this epic moment.
“It was such a beautiful experience as Danny and I ran. I always love watching the sun come up!”
- Brad
At 8:15 a.m. we made it to our destination after roughly 2 hours and 15 minutes of running. The legs were feeling good and we ran even faster than expected. It must have been due to our early morning cheer team giving us that extra boost of energy!!
“It was awesome seeing all the runners gearing up and walking to the Lachine event”
- Brad
We walked our way to Brad’s adaptive van, where our teammates were waiting for us! We consumed some much-needed protein and electrolytes as we waited to begin the official Lachine Half Marathon event.
“I felt a sense of community having Danny and I’s friends waiting to begin the next leg of the race with us. We were all getting hyped together!”
- Brad
At 9:00 a.m. the All Access Life squad began the second half of the marathon with us. Each team member took turns pushing Brad in the Josi. Along the way, we were capturing pictures and videos of the experience. Everyone seemed extremely honored, motivated, and excited to be part of this event with us.
We planned on doing a 7:00 minute per km pace as a team, but at some points, we were FLYING running at a 5:30 minute per km pace!
At roughly 11:00 a.m. we made it to the 19km mark of the Lachine half marathon (40km total for us) where Brad’s mom and our good friend Eric were waiting with Brad’s adaptive walker. We transferred Brad from the Josi into the adaptive walker and he was off to the races!!! He had a 2.2km run ahead of him to complete our 42.2km marathon.
“I was so anxious when I first got into my walker, but I knew I could do it. I trained hard for this moment and I was ready to showcase the NO LIMITS mindset, especially after seeing Danny and the team’s NO LIMITS mindset throughout the run. The team helped motivate me each step of the way! As I marched my way to the finish line, I began to hear the music getting louder and louder. I knew I was close. I was feeling pretty exhausted until I saw the huge crowd gathered at the finish line. As I looked into the crowd, I saw so many familiar faces who were there to cheer us on! Seeing them gave me my second wind and allowed me to give the last 200 meters my all!”
- Brad
As we approached the finish line our team began chanting “BRAD!! BRAD!!! BRAD!! BRAD!!!” One of our teammates began energetically running around waving our sponsored flag (Tobii Dynavox & Logitech) so the crowd could see the two companies that have allowed us to take our Nonprofit All Access Life to the next level!
Brad soared across the finish line and we all celebrated with a round of high-fives as we collected our medals.
This year’s total marathon time
Solo half + Lachine half
4:42:46
For the next 30 minutes, we chatted with everyone from the crowd who came out to support us.
“It was fantastic to see and chat with everyone who came to cheer us on! I was overwhelmed with emotions having so much support!”
- Brad
Finally, at 4:00 pm we met up with the team at a local bar and had some celebratory drinks and ate everything in sight!!
Another successful marathon in the books! Stay tuned till next year!!
Our fundraiser will remain open until October 31st. We are raising funds for our Nonprofit All Access Life. More details
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Special thanks to our sponsors of this marathon Tobii Dynavox and Logitech. Both of these companies truly believe in empowering people with disabilities by cultivating a more equitable, inclusive, and diverse world. These companies allow us to continue building and growing All Access Life into everything we know it can become. Thanks, Tobii Dynavox and Logitech for believing in our mission and supporting our marathon event! It means the world to us to have your support and carry your logos across the finish line with us.
Special thanks to Thomas, our cameraman, for meeting us at the train station at 5:30 a.m. and following us in his car throughout the entire event! You captured some EPIC pictures! We can’t thank you enough!
“I would like to give a special thanks to my mom for organizing all of my equipment and getting it to where it needed to be. You are one of our biggest supporters! Danny and I truly appreciate it. I love you mom”
- Brad