Thousands of runners toed the line at the Windsor Waterfront Half Marathon and 5K on Sept. 13 – among them, 13 dedicated members of the St. Clair College Saints on the Run team.
The Saints team was made up of staff members, administrators and faculty, who got together over the summer for a "couch to 5K" running group, organized by the St. Clair College Wellness Committee.
That turned into a group sharing the same goal: enter, complete and fundraise for the Windsor Waterfront 5K.
"I have never considered myself a runner, so participating in the Windsor Waterfront 5K was definitely outside of my comfort zone," said Lauren Amlin, a Human Resources Service Manager at St. Clair College.
"Completing a 5K had become a personal goal, and what started as a challenge turned into an incredibly rewarding experience, especially seeing my kids there cheering me on," Amlin said. "It was an opportunity to show them, and remind myself, that we can do hard things when we set a goal and are willing to work toward it."
"It's been some time since I committed to consistently running and this opportunity with the running club reignited that spark!" said Wintre McConnell, a Senior Manager of Human Resources at St. Clair. "The team's energy, support, and the shared commitment in fundraising for our first 5K helped transform a wellness goal into real community impact."
The team set an original goal of raising $500. When they surpassed that, they reset the goal to $1,000. The team eventually exceeded its own expectations, raising a grand total of $2,000.36.
"Completing the Windsor Waterfront 5K and beating my goal of 30 minutes was a great accomplishment, but it would not have been possible without the encouragement and support of the group," said Terrence Burke, Associate Registrar, Scheduling and Wellness Committee Chair. "The camaraderie and motivation throughout the program kept me going, and together we also raised more than $2,000 for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Windsor and the Windsor Cancer Centre Foundation, far exceeding our fundraising goal."
The team may not have won the race, but that didn't matter to them. What they did manage to do was raise the second-most money all fundraising teams in the field.
Overall, participating teams raised $43,618.50 for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Windsor and the Windsor Cancer Centre Foundation.
For these Community Saints, it felt good to fundraise – but it was equally rewarding to train together and create lasting bonds.
"The positivity and camaraderie throughout the event were incredible," said Amlin. "It was great to see colleagues from different constituent groups and departments across the College come together, encourage one another and work toward a common goal."
With their first 5K behind them, Saints on the Run members are looking ahead to next year.
"The experience has inspired me to keep going," said Amlin.
"I have now set my next challenge: working my way up to completing a half marathon within the next year!"
