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Dr. Gillian Presner set her personal best just by stepping up to the starting line of Saturday’s 10-kilometre run on the opening day of Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend.
“I can safely say that no one in that race has gone through the same journey I have,” said Presner of a run eight years in the making.
Presner’s journey began in 2010 when she took a beginner’s course at her local gym.
“I absolutely fell in love with running,” said Presner, 38, a CHEO emergency room doctor. “It was the only space I had in the day where I could actually have my head clear. I decided at that point I was going to train for the half-marathon.”
She created her own training regimen, a move she now considers a mistake after she pushed herself too hard and suffered an injury, forcing her to withdraw from her first run.
“I was devastated,” she said. She suffered another injury the following year before adjusting her goal to running the 10K.
That was in 2012, and shortly before the run Presner discovered she was pregnant and again withdrew.
Three months after her first daughter was born, she was back on the training circuit, but suffered a labral tear in her hip — an injury she concedes was “probably” related to overexerting during training — and was told she needed to take a five-year hiatus from running. She had still yet to compete in a run.
But, unknown to her, the next chapter in her journey was only beginning.
“I was pregnant with our third child, we were just under 37 weeks and I was feeling amazing. And then (on July 14, 2016) my husband found me seizing on the bathroom floor.
“He called 911 with a one-year-old in his arms, tried to keep me safe and got me to the hospital, where I was told I had a tennis ball-sized tumour in the front, right side of my brain.
“It was totally unexpected. I had no symptoms.”
Doctors delivered Presner’s third daughter, and nine days later she underwent a full day of brain surgery. She remained conscious throughout.
“They kept me awake because the tumour was in a delicate area and they wanted to make sure if I had a stroke or seizure while in surgery they would know about it.
“It was horrible. And I’m not supposed to remember it. They give you drugs so that you at least don’t remember most of it, but I remember it.
“I was numb, so I didn’t feel everything, but I felt more than I wanted to.”
Following surgery, she learned she had suffered a stroke.
Gillian Presner waited a long, long time before she was finally able to compete in her first race. Eight years after falling in love with running, she finally made it to the start line.
“I basically came out of the surgery, I was still slurring my words, I was still in the ICU and I said to my husband, ‘I’m doing the Army Run in September.’ This was July. I said, ‘I need something to work towards, I need to raise money for something, I want to give to other people.’
“They told me the tumour I had in my brain was malignant, and it was an aggressive brain cancer (she was diagnosed with glioblastoma), so I knew I had limited time.
“He looked at me and said, ‘You just got out of brain surgery, you had a baby nine days ago, you are not doing the Army Run.’ So I acquiesced.”
She instead set her sights on the 2017 Ottawa Race Weekend.
“I was going to do it however I could. If I had to walk, I would walk,” she said.
Her colleagues at CHEO assembled a team of more than 50 runners, dubbed Gill’s Team, and started raising pledges for the Terry Fox Foundation.
(Presner also did fundraising last year for the charity in Gord Downie’s name at Toronto’s Sunnybrook Hospital, as she has the same form of brain cancer that claimed the life of the Tragically Hip front man.)
Last April, however, weeks before the race, Presner suffered another setback when she herniated a disc in her back. She blames the injury, at least partially, on the toll her body took from six months of radiation and chemotherapy.
“I was really out of shape because I had gone through all this,” she said. “So I watched from the sidelines and I said, ‘I’m doing it this year (in 2018). It’s been eight years in the making. I am running in the race weekend this year.’ ”
Presner credits her neurological physiotherapist, Jacquie Levy, for helping her get to the starting line, and her family for helping her across the finish.
Her daughters, now aged 5, 2 and 1, are too young to comprehend what their mother is going through.
“My oldest made a sign that says, ‘Go Mommy Go.’ She knows I’m running but she doesn’t know the why. But of everything, seeing my husband holding that sign is what I’m most looking forward to.
“I want to show my kids, not that you can do everything, because I don’t actually believe that, but that any goal you set for yourself is achievable in some way. It might not be the way you envisioned. My goal of running the half-marathon is instead going to be walk-running a 10K eight years later, but I achieved it. I’m still going to cross the finish line. I’m still going to raise money for a good cause.”
(Presner has already surpassed her goal of $3,000 for The Ottawa Hospital.)
“I’m going to hit a personal best when I hit the starting line,” she said on the eve of the race. “And if I’m the last person across the finish line, well, then I crossed the finish line.”
Her most recent scans came back clean, though Presner acknowledges the outlook is “grim” considering the type of cancer she has.
“The cancer is known for leaving cells behind, and it always comes back. The day after my surgery, I was told the ‘good news’ is the survival has gone up to 45 months. And all I could think is that my oldest daughter is going to be seven when I die.
“So everything I do now is really framed by, ‘There’s no point in waiting around for things. Do what you can in this life now and make what you do matter now.’
“And I want to make sure the lessons I pass on to my daughters are lived in what I do. So they won’t hear it from me when they’re teenagers, they’re going to hear stories of, ‘Mommy did this.’ And that’s going to teach them the lessons I want them to learn.”
Photos: Action from Tamarack Ottawa Race weekend, Saturday May 26, 2018
ahelmer@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/helmera
查看原文...
“I can safely say that no one in that race has gone through the same journey I have,” said Presner of a run eight years in the making.
Presner’s journey began in 2010 when she took a beginner’s course at her local gym.
“I absolutely fell in love with running,” said Presner, 38, a CHEO emergency room doctor. “It was the only space I had in the day where I could actually have my head clear. I decided at that point I was going to train for the half-marathon.”
She created her own training regimen, a move she now considers a mistake after she pushed herself too hard and suffered an injury, forcing her to withdraw from her first run.
“I was devastated,” she said. She suffered another injury the following year before adjusting her goal to running the 10K.
That was in 2012, and shortly before the run Presner discovered she was pregnant and again withdrew.
Three months after her first daughter was born, she was back on the training circuit, but suffered a labral tear in her hip — an injury she concedes was “probably” related to overexerting during training — and was told she needed to take a five-year hiatus from running. She had still yet to compete in a run.
But, unknown to her, the next chapter in her journey was only beginning.
“I was pregnant with our third child, we were just under 37 weeks and I was feeling amazing. And then (on July 14, 2016) my husband found me seizing on the bathroom floor.
“He called 911 with a one-year-old in his arms, tried to keep me safe and got me to the hospital, where I was told I had a tennis ball-sized tumour in the front, right side of my brain.
“It was totally unexpected. I had no symptoms.”
Doctors delivered Presner’s third daughter, and nine days later she underwent a full day of brain surgery. She remained conscious throughout.
“They kept me awake because the tumour was in a delicate area and they wanted to make sure if I had a stroke or seizure while in surgery they would know about it.
“It was horrible. And I’m not supposed to remember it. They give you drugs so that you at least don’t remember most of it, but I remember it.
“I was numb, so I didn’t feel everything, but I felt more than I wanted to.”
Following surgery, she learned she had suffered a stroke.
Gillian Presner waited a long, long time before she was finally able to compete in her first race. Eight years after falling in love with running, she finally made it to the start line.
“I basically came out of the surgery, I was still slurring my words, I was still in the ICU and I said to my husband, ‘I’m doing the Army Run in September.’ This was July. I said, ‘I need something to work towards, I need to raise money for something, I want to give to other people.’
“They told me the tumour I had in my brain was malignant, and it was an aggressive brain cancer (she was diagnosed with glioblastoma), so I knew I had limited time.
“He looked at me and said, ‘You just got out of brain surgery, you had a baby nine days ago, you are not doing the Army Run.’ So I acquiesced.”
She instead set her sights on the 2017 Ottawa Race Weekend.
“I was going to do it however I could. If I had to walk, I would walk,” she said.
Her colleagues at CHEO assembled a team of more than 50 runners, dubbed Gill’s Team, and started raising pledges for the Terry Fox Foundation.
(Presner also did fundraising last year for the charity in Gord Downie’s name at Toronto’s Sunnybrook Hospital, as she has the same form of brain cancer that claimed the life of the Tragically Hip front man.)
Last April, however, weeks before the race, Presner suffered another setback when she herniated a disc in her back. She blames the injury, at least partially, on the toll her body took from six months of radiation and chemotherapy.
“I was really out of shape because I had gone through all this,” she said. “So I watched from the sidelines and I said, ‘I’m doing it this year (in 2018). It’s been eight years in the making. I am running in the race weekend this year.’ ”
Presner credits her neurological physiotherapist, Jacquie Levy, for helping her get to the starting line, and her family for helping her across the finish.
Her daughters, now aged 5, 2 and 1, are too young to comprehend what their mother is going through.
“My oldest made a sign that says, ‘Go Mommy Go.’ She knows I’m running but she doesn’t know the why. But of everything, seeing my husband holding that sign is what I’m most looking forward to.
“I want to show my kids, not that you can do everything, because I don’t actually believe that, but that any goal you set for yourself is achievable in some way. It might not be the way you envisioned. My goal of running the half-marathon is instead going to be walk-running a 10K eight years later, but I achieved it. I’m still going to cross the finish line. I’m still going to raise money for a good cause.”
(Presner has already surpassed her goal of $3,000 for The Ottawa Hospital.)
“I’m going to hit a personal best when I hit the starting line,” she said on the eve of the race. “And if I’m the last person across the finish line, well, then I crossed the finish line.”
Her most recent scans came back clean, though Presner acknowledges the outlook is “grim” considering the type of cancer she has.
“The cancer is known for leaving cells behind, and it always comes back. The day after my surgery, I was told the ‘good news’ is the survival has gone up to 45 months. And all I could think is that my oldest daughter is going to be seven when I die.
“So everything I do now is really framed by, ‘There’s no point in waiting around for things. Do what you can in this life now and make what you do matter now.’
“And I want to make sure the lessons I pass on to my daughters are lived in what I do. So they won’t hear it from me when they’re teenagers, they’re going to hear stories of, ‘Mommy did this.’ And that’s going to teach them the lessons I want them to learn.”
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Photos: Action from Tamarack Ottawa Race weekend, Saturday May 26, 2018
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Photos: Action from Tamarack Ottawa Race weekend, Saturday May 26, 2018
Runners start the 5K race Saturday May 26, 2018 at Ottawa Race Weekend. Ashley Fraser/Postmedia
Runners start the 5K race Saturday May 26, 2018 at Ottawa Race Weekend. Ashley Fraser/Postmedia
Runners start the 5K race Saturday May 26, 2018 at Ottawa Race Weekend. Ashley Fraser/Postmedia
Runners line up at the start line of the 2K race Saturday May 26, 2018 at Ottawa Race Weekend. Ashley Fraser/Postmedia
A crew of runners at the start of the 5K race Saturday May 26, 2018 at Ottawa Race Weekend. Ashley Fraser/Postmedia
A young super fan checks out the runners passing by at the start line of the 2K race Saturday May 26, 2018 at Ottawa Race Weekend. Ashley Fraser/Postmedia
A crew of runners at the start of the 5K race Saturday May 26, 2018 at Ottawa Race Weekend. Ashley Fraser/Postmedia
A crew of runners at the start of the 5K race Saturday May 26, 2018 at Ottawa Race Weekend. Ashley Fraser/Postmedia
Jonathan Ward along with thousands of runners at the start of the 5K race Saturday May 26, 2018 at Ottawa Race Weekend. Ashley Fraser/Postmedia
Philippe Brochu of Quebec City wins the 5k at the Ottawa Race Weekend on Saturday, May 26, 2018. (Patrick Doyle) ORG XMIT: 0527 race weekend 03 Patrick Doyle/Postmedia
Jenna Van Vliet of Ottawa wins the 5k at the Ottawa Race Weekend on Saturday, May 26, 2018. Patrick Doyle/Postmedia
Nick Jankowski of Ottawa finishes the 5k at the Ottawa Race Weekend on Saturday, May 26, 2018. Patrick Doyle/Postmedia
Brittany Dinardo of Ottawa finishes the 5k at the Ottawa Race Weekend on Saturday, May 26, 2018. Patrick Doyle/Postmedia
Two and a half year old Cedric Laprise plays in the fountain outside of City Hall Saturday May 26, 2018 during Ottawa Race Weekend. Ashley Fraser/Postmedia
Tina Boileau along with Evan Prescott not only started the 5K race but also took part in the 5K race Saturday May 26, 2018 at Ottawa Race Weekend. Ashley Fraser/Postmedia
Evan Prescott surrounded by people walking in honour of Jonathan Pitre at the start of the 5K race Saturday May 26, 2018 at Ottawa Race Weekend. Ashley Fraser/Postmedia
A crew of runners taking part in the 5K race in honour of Jonathan Pitre Saturday May 26, 2018 at Ottawa Race Weekend. Ashley Fraser/Postmedia
Yandy Macabuag and Tina Boileau as they started the 5K race in honour of Jonathan Pitre Saturday May 26, 2018 at Ottawa Race Weekend. Ashley Fraser/Postmedia
Yandy Macabuag cheers to Tina Boileau as she gets ready to start the 5K race in honour of Jonathan Pitre Saturday May 26, 2018 at Ottawa Race Weekend. Ashley Fraser/Postmedia
Evan Prescott before the 5K race Saturday May 26, 2018 at Ottawa Race Weekend. Ashley Fraser/Postmedia
Tina Boileau, the mother of Jonathan Pitre, finishes the 5k at the Ottawa Race Weekend on Saturday, May 26, 2018. Patrick Doyle/Postmedia
Michelle Taggart from Tamarack Homes at the start of the 2K race May 26, 2018 during Ottawa Race Weekend. Ashley Fraser/Postmedia
Runners take part in the 2K race Saturday May 26, 2018 at Ottawa Race Weekend. Ashley Fraser/Postmedia
June Hum takes part in the 2K race Saturday May 26, 2018 at Ottawa Race Weekend. Ashley Fraser/Postmedia
Runners take part in the 2K race Saturday May 26, 2018 at Ottawa Race Weekend. Ashley Fraser/Postmedia
MP Catherine McKenna addressed the racers before the 5K race Saturday May 26, 2018 at Ottawa Race Weekend. Ashley Fraser/Postmedia
John Stanton, the founder of the Running Room and an announcer during Ottawa Race Weekend Saturday May 26, 2018. Ashley Fraser/Postmedia
ahelmer@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/helmera
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