Long runs on the open roads are nothing new for Noah Allison, but he’s never done seven marathon distances in seven consecutive days.
“I won’t lie, it’s been tough. I’ve never felt the pains that I’ve felt the last few days before,” Allison told This is BC.
He’s running from Prince Rupert to Terrace and back, in his third annual Miles for Markus fundraiser in memory of his father, Markus, who died of cancer in 2023.
“How he kept himself composed and so positive and always looking for the silver lining, he was a really special guy,” said Allison.
Markus was there for the first one, high-fiving his son every chance he got along the way.
“I came around and he saw me still running and still moving. You could see the proudness radiating,” said Allison. “The last thing he ever said to me was how proud he was.”
With a lot of support, these runs have raised just over $14,000 to date. Donations through his Instagram account @healingthroughendurance will support The BC Cancer Foundation’s Patient Relief Fund.
“Every time I look at my phone, I’ve got a new email notification for a new donation, so it’s really been going well,” said Allison.
This has become therapeutic for him as well. Running offered him a break from those long hospital visits during his dad’s battle.
“At one point, I was over 300 pounds and unhealthy. He was quite shocked when I did my first eight-kilometre race, I remember him going ‘eight kilometres, that’s so far’,” said Allison.
It makes him smile, imagining what Markus would have thought about running across part of Northern B.C. and back in just a week.
“I know him well enough to know he would just go ‘you are absolutely insane, ’” said Allison.
“To think what he would say about this, I can only imagine. My mom and I have a got a good laugh thinking about how crazy he would think I was for doing this one.”