Natasha Baldin/News Staff
Seven months ago, Yana Hempler, 33, was so sick she could hardly sleep, eat, walk or sit up for long periods of time.
Her strange combination of symptoms puzzled doctors and left her bedridden, forcing her to take three months off work and four months off from her biggest passion — running.
“I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to get better, and my mental health as a result of that took a beating,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if was ever going to return to what I wanted to do, which was to run.”
In late December, she started noticing she could stand for longer periods of time and has since been working to build her endurance back up.
Starting on July 3, she will be running 10 marathons in 10 days on Saanich’s Lochside Trail between Tillicum Road and Saanich Road as part of an effort to raise $1 million for the Victoria Hospitals Foundation.
The Saanich resident is no stranger to leading marathon campaigns for a good cause. She completed her first 10 marathons in 10 days in 2020 and raised roughly $21,000 for the foundation. Then, during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, she ran 30 marathons in 30 days and raised another $90,000.
But she said this time is different. In addition to raising money for a good cause, she said she has “far more of an appreciation of life and for running” following her illness and hopes she can inspire others recovering from illnesses or injuries.
“A lot of people go back to this comparison game where they compare their past abilities to their current abilities, and you have to be kind to yourself and start back up slowly. It’s going to take some time,” she said.
While recovering from her illness might make this her toughest campaign yet, she is encouraging others to join her in her runs to inspire her to persevere.
“I haven’t done it for so long and I’m just getting back into it, so I’m going to be a lot slower than I’m used to running a marathon in, I will probably be more tired and I’ll probably need to take more walk breaks than I normally would,” she said.
“Hopefully there will be other people who join me to come and run with me so that I can get distracted from the actual tiredness of the running.”
Those looking to support Hempler in getting across the finish line are encouraged to donate to her campaign. She will also be donating a portion of sales from her clothing line, Dream Nation Apparel.
“Times have been tough for everybody with the cost of everything going up, but I hope that people will find it in their heart to donate to the Victoria Hospitals Foundation because they do so much work here,” she said. “They really help a lot of people and they save a lot of lives, so any donation is greatly appreciated.”
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