Prince George's first Run for Rural Medicine saw a strong inaugural turn out

By Tommy Osborne

Rural Healthcare

UNBC runners get active to support rural healthcare

Apr 27, 2024 | 12:02 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – The 20th annual University of British Columbia (UBC) Run for Rural Medicine is taking place over this weekend, as UBC is running tomorrow, while other communities like Kelowna, Victoria, and Prince George’s University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) took part today. While UNBC has been involved in the run before, this is the first year it’s also hosted a run, and Event Organizer and UNBC Medical Student Kylie Peake says it’s great that our own community can support such an important cause.

“Being in northern B.C., the geographical landscape is quite vast, so it’s a challenge for people to go access care. They have to often go down to Vancouver to receive treatments and stuff, and it’s just quite expensive. So it really hits close to home being up in northern B.C,” Peake said.

While the Run for Rural Medicine has been going for 20 years, it’s current beneficiary Hope Air has been receiving the funds since 2015. Hope Air is an organization focused on providing accommodations for people who may have to travel to receive necessary healthcare.

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“It’s a cause that I think a lot of people are gung-ho about in the community. I’ve actually heard some people say that they’ve actually used Hope Air before to access care,” Peake said.

Across all four communities the fund raising goal is $15,000, and the runners who showed up in Prince George today are happy to do their part in improving our community’s access to health care.

“Physiotherapists work in rural settings and we get to see a lot of individuals who don’t necessarily get access. So I think it’s important that this is a fundraiser for exactly that,” said UNBC physiotherapy student Caitlin kleywegt

“I’m starting to see that a lot of people have limited access to health care. A lot of clients have to travel in from out of town. A lot of times clients have to travel long distances; some clients from Prince George, they have to go to Vancouver,” added fellow physiotherapy student Mikaela Schubkegel.

Peake was happy to see such strong community support for the first run in Prince George, and added the event would not have been possible without co-organizer Juliette Davies. Davies, alongside all the other volunteers who put the time in to set the run up, were instrumental in helping Prince George’s first Run for Rural medicine go as well as it did.

“She was truly the brains behind the operation,” Peake said.

Since Hope Air became the beneficiary in 2015, the Run for Rural Medicine has raised more than $70,000 towards its cause. Hope Air covers travel fees like flights, hotels, meals, and more for anyone who needs to travel for healthcare, and the entire service is free of charge.

Prince George’s inaugural Run for Rural Medicine saw a strong turnout, with 30 runners, bikers, and walkers all showing up. With a promising first turnout, it’s likely this run will be in our community once again next year.

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