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Tag: Brian McKeever

  • Paralympian Brian McKeever to Headline Field at September Running Event in Calgary

    CALGARY, AB – Cross-country skier Brian McKeever, one of Canada’s most decorated Paralympians of all-time, will team up with the Foundation Fighting Blindness this fall for a unique running event to raise funding and awareness in the pursuit of a cure for inherited forms of blindness. McKeever will headline a field of 500 runners who will lace up their running shoes for the Run for Sight, a 5km run/walk event to be held at noon-hour in downtown Calgary on Thursday, September 16th.

    McKeever, a Calgary native and ten-time Paralympic medalist, has Stargardt’s disease, an inherited form of degenerative blindness that has resulted in significant loss of his central vision. “I am proud to be partnering with the Foundation Fighting Blindness for such a great event in support of a cause that is near and dear for me,” commented McKeever. “These diseases impact so many families in our community and I think this event will provide a unique, fun way to create awareness while raising funds for research.”

    Joining McKeever as a Run for Sight Ambassador will be Norma Bastidas, a Calgarian who has run ultramarathons and climbed mountains across the globe in support of the blind and visually impaired. In 2009 Bastidas became the fastest female in history to run seven of the planet’s most unforgiving environments, completing seven ultramarathons on seven continents in seven months. Three years ago Bastidas’ oldest son Karl, now 14, was diagnosed with Cone Rod Dystrophy, a progressive condition that causes vision loss with no cure.

    “I often get credited for something that people who are living with blindness and vision impairment do everyday of their lives – overcoming huge challenges,” notes Bastidas. “We have a golden opportunity to transform retinal research in Canada, and the support provided through events such as this will help us reach this goal.”

    The inaugural Run for Sight will take place in September and will follow a picturesque 5km course along the Bow River, starting and finishing at Eau Claire Park. Scheduled for 12:30pm on Thursday, September 16, the event will be a unique, weekday run that will look to engage and unite Calgary’s downtown business community.

    Early bird registration for the Run for Sight is $30 and is available at www.runforsight.ca or www.events.runningroom.com.


  • Wood Defends Decision on McKeever

    As much as anyone might begrudge Team Canada coaches Dave Wood and National Inge Braten’s decision to sit Brian McKeever in Sunday’s 50 k classic, it’s hard to disagree with the fact that the two were presented with an agonizing choice.

    While starting McKeever would have meant making history—the Canadian would have been the first athlete to compete in both the winter Olympics and Paralympics—it also would have meant holding a potential medal contender out of the race. Devon Kershaw, Alex Harvey, George Grey, and Ivan Babikov are all skiing well, and each has a legitimate—if small—chance for the podium in the 50 k.

    Wood said that he expected for one of those four to be run down by this point, two weeks into the Games—that’s why there was a reasonable belief that McKeever would get a start in the first place.

    “Normally, that happens,” he said. “Since 2003, I don’t think we’ve ever made four guys in the 50 k. There’s always something [that] happens—guys run out of gas, they get sick, they get hurt.”

    But with those four all healthy and fired up to compete, Wood said that there’s no holding them back. And at this level, the only kind of history coaches get credit for making is when they win.

    “It’s quite hard for us to put guys that are skiing, you know, they’ve all been top-ten—to put them on the bench,” he said. “It’s nothing against Brian, but they’re better.”

    While McKeever may have won the 50 k at the Canadian Olympic team trials in December, none of the four starters for Sunday’s event competed in that race.

    Wood downplayed the significance of the whole situation, saying that all the attention turns it into a “sideshow,” and distracts from the team’s main focus.

    “It’s not really making history—he’s been at World Championships, he’s been on the World Cup,” he said. “It’s something that I think [is] difficult to manage in the team, too, because we’re here to race at the Olympics.”

    While a start for McKeever would hold significance for the media, he added, “tomorrow that’s gone—and we can’t sell that to anybody.”