CREDIT: ONERUN.CA
Fanshawe varsity basketball coach and breast cancer survivor Theresa Carriere will embark on her third ONERUN, a one-day 100 km run from Sarnia to London, in June. The run’s proceeds will benefit breast cancer research in London.

January 20 marks the beginning of the third year of the 100 km ONERUN III kick-off event for breast cancer research. Theresa Carriere, a Fanshawe varsity basketball coach, breast cancer survivor and main initiator of the event, said she hopes this year's event will raise more than $150,000. Over two years, Carriere's raised over $380,000 for breast cancer research.

“The kick-off event will be an opportunity to pull in sponsors, friends and family and officially launch the ONERUN event,” said Carriere. “It'll also be a time where [our team] can share everything about the event with as many people as we can.”

The kick-off, held at Edgar and Joe's Café (in front of the Goodwill Centre on Horton and Wellington) from 5 to 7 p.m., offered information, light refreshments and the opportunity to learn more about getting involved with the run.

“ONERUN was successful the first couple of years, and as a result, we thought, ‘You know what, let's continue the rest of our work. Let's finish what we've started,'” said Carriere. “A lot of people are waiting for us — both runs were amazing, and it offers a lot of hope.”

The run, which will begin at 7 a.m. on June 13 in Sarnia and finish by dusk in London, will witness Carriere take on 100 km, a route that stretches more than two marathons combined.

“It's a personal run with the concept of: one survivor, one day, 100 kilometres,” explained Carriere. “At every kilometre, someone will be running with me, with each kilometre dedicated to someone battling cancer, someone who's survived cancer, and those who lost their battle with cancer.”

With 100 per cent of the proceeds going directly to London's St. Joe's Hospital and the London Health Sciences Centre, Carriere and her team feel fortunate for the ongoing support province-wide, especially from Fanshawe College.

“Fanshawe's absolutely played a huge role in the run's success. I think any experience from our past helps create who we are right now,” said Carriere. “For one, I met my husband there, but having been a varsity athlete (with Fanshawe), you learn to be tough, and you learn how to balance and all those skills certainly apply to my training, and how I manage ONERUN.”

Visit onerun.ca to donate, sign up as volunteers and access more information on the event.

In the meantime, Carriere and her team will continue to raise awareness surrounding the cause by hosting presentations at local elementary schools and playing a visible role throughout the community.

“We work damn hard and we're passionate about what we're doing,” said Carriere. “We took a couple years off to give the team break, but we felt our work wasn't done ... so it's time to regroup.”