A Thank You From Our Race Director!

Thank you so much for attending Canada’s first ever Walk/Run & Wheelchair event supporting the Canadian Spondyloarthritis Association (CSA!)

Because of your efforts and dedication, this event was a grand success! We had over 70 participants at Goldbar Park Sunday May 7th, a virtual gathering of 10 people in Vernon, BC and other individual virtual participants all moving to support the cause and raise over $14,000 for the CSA.

There was also media attention from the Edmonton Journal as well as an interview Mandy and Rick did with Global Edmonton.
It was very exciting to garner so much media exposure for our inaugural event, and spread the message of awareness. If you’d like to view some of the pictures captured, view the gallery below

We were thankful and happy to be able to host members from the Alberta chapter of the CSA Support group who were in attendance.

We realize the importance of creating an event that offers representation and awareness for this invisible disease. Going forward, we ask that you all continue validating individuals’ experience with this disease and letting them know that they are not alone and that you will continue to spread the word to create a space for them.

Together, we accomplished our goal of spreading the knowledge that Spondyloarthritis is more than a “sore back disease” and that someone may very well look just fine to you but in reality is battling a world of pain.

A special shout out to our really wonderful volunteers who helped out in a big way to make this event a hit, and I cannot thank them enough for their efforts.

With the sponsorship funds raised we were able to purchase flags (to be used for future years!) along with the branded bags and back scratchers that were handed out to participants. We also received many prize donations from the community, which we raffled off as door prizes and put in participants’ swag bags. Without the support of the sponsors and volunteers we would not have been able to run such a fantastic event, so please support these businesses:

Getting involved by spreading awareness and raising funds is a big step in the right direction and we look forward to what the future of this event can bring to the Canadian Spondylitis Association (CSA)

If you have any feedback or info to provide on the event or are a business owner who is interested in getting involved for next year, please do not hesitate to contact Mandy Costache mandy@sparthritis.ca.

On behalf of myself and the Canadian Spondyloarthritis Association, I thank you again for your participation, donations and support for this event.

Mandy Costache
Race Director