We should all be lucky enough to have someone in our lives like Barb.
On Sunday, a group known as Barb’s Besties mapped out a 10-kilometre route around the Seymour area of North Vancouver and ran their own little virtual Sun Run. They were all there because of one woman: Barb Zeidler.
The story starts more than 20 years ago, in 2001, when a group of women met at a Sun Run training clinic held out of Ron Andrews rec centre. They formed a bond during those training sessions. Those bonds, however, could have easily been broken, as so often happens with casual acquaintances, or even close friends. People drift apart.
But Barb wasn’t going to let that happen.
She took down contact information from the members of the running pack, kept them all connected after the Sun Run was over. How did they stay in touch? Barb started a neighbourhood running group, and they’ve been together ever since, training rain or shine nearly every Sunday for the past two decades. The group was ostensibly geared around getting ready to run the annual Sun Run, but it was so much more than that, said group member Susan Miller in a note to the North Shore News.
“We continue to train and come back every year to run the Sun Run so that we can continue to stay fit, maintain our friendships, socialize, and support each other through ‘thick and thin,’” she said.
They’d take turns planning routes for their runs, exploring all the great terrain available across the North Shore. And no matter where they started, they always aimed to finish up at a coffee shop where they’d sip drinks and swap stories.
One year the group organized a trip to San Francisco to run in the Bay To Breakers race. Another year they took a cruise to Seattle to try out the trails down there. They’ve stuck together through it all.
“We have ‘been there’ for our friends, supporting each other as they have dealt with separations, divorces, challenges with kids, career changes, depression, personal health issues, as well supporting members whose spouses and friends have been dealing with chronic medical conditions or who have passed away,” said Miller. “[We’re] always sharing stories of our lives with each other.”
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Barb did everything she could to keep the group connected, even when public health regulations didn’t allow them to see each other in person.
“We shared family stories, photos, jokes and chatted about the things we were doing to keep active via email or Zoom,” said Miller.
They didn’t lose touch, and when the rules allowed it, they hit the trails together again, first in small groups, and then larger ones as restrictions eased.
“Barb was determined that our group stay together even during the most trying times of the pandemic,” said Miller. “Barb was so proud that the group was still going strong in 2021, after over 20 years together.”
They last raced the real Sun Run in 2019, but in 2021 Barb mapped out a virtual route in her Seymour area and ran it with a friend.
Unfortunately, bad news came last November. At age 74, Barb was diagnosed with lung cancer. She had never smoked, she ate well, and, of course, there was all that running to keep her fit. But none of that mattered to the cancer. She deteriorated quickly. She was admitted to Lion’s Gate Hospital on Christmas Eve. She passed away on Jan. 10.
The group knew they had to run for her, and so Barb’s Besties was formed, and they raced in her honour last weekend. There were more than 20 of them, and they wanted to run with “Barb looking down and cheering us on,” said Miller.
It’s obvious that she meant a lot to the members of the running group. What a treasure it is to have 20 besties! But it meant a lot Barb as well. How do we know?
“She asked her husband Bob to bury her in her running gear,” said Miller.
What more can you say. She had a good run.
Andy Prest is the sports and features editor of the North Shore News. His lifestyle/humour column runs biweekly. [email protected]
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