A few weeks after completing radiation therapy for the second appearance of a rare brain tumour, Guelph runner Haley Davis completed the 150-kilometre Guelph to Goderich rail trail in support of cancer foundations.
Along the way she raised more than $26,000, split between the Terry Fox Foundation and the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada – far surpassing her initial goal of collecting $10,000.
“It’s incredible how much support the campaign has received,” Davis said in a post on the University of Guelph website.. “I keep seeing more people wanting to contribute. It blows my mind.”
The trek began May 1, the onset of Brain Cancer Awareness Week, and took place over several days, with Davis running two sets of 15-km each day, beginning near Guelph Lake.
“I was so excited and eager to start the run,” said Davis, a bio-resource management student at the U of G. “My emotions were happy ones. My mom, Janet, gets really emotional when we bring up the subject of brain cancer. I guess I’ll know better what she was going through when I’m a mother, but her emotions were also really happy ones that day.”
In summer 2019, Davis was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour. A top Ontario high school runner at the time, attending John F. Ross Collegiate Vocational Institute, there was fear the tumour could end her running career. She underwent emergency surgery later that year.
After residual cancer cells were detected, she underwent a second surgery this past January and radiation therapy that ended April 12, just 18 days before her fundraising run.
The morning her run began was made more uplifting and special by the surprise arrival of a young boy who had been at the Juravinski Cancer Centre in Hamilton at the same time as Davis. He was undergoing treatment for the same type of brain tumour.
“He and his wonderful family surprised me and showed up with a very generous donation, so I was overwhelmed by their generosity,” she said. “Just seeing him in a non-cancer setting and to see how well he was doing was just awesome.”
Although she kept a positive attitude throughout the trail run, there were times when she needed “a little push” from friends and family to keep her going.
“I tried to stay positive throughout the run, but my parents can definitely vouch for the fact that sometimes it was hard to get up in the mornings to prepare myself for the next 30 kilometres,” she said. “But I did have some friends and my dad biking and running with me and they definitely helped keep my spirits up. We also had music playing.”
Davis is a cross-country and track and field runner with the U of G Gryphons. Before her surgery, she was training for the eight-kilometre cross-country competition. On the track, she competes in the 800- and 1,500-metre events. The COVID-19 pandemic halted all varsity competition, but training continued.
In high school, she won five provincial medals, including two gold. She holds records for John F. Ross Collegiate Vocational Institute in Guelph.
Being an athlete gave her the strength and resilience to cope with her diagnosis and treatment. But battling cancer also made her think differently about racing.
“As an athlete, you push yourself to break through so many different boundaries and sometimes it’s hard to crash through them,” she said.
“In races, you put a lot of stress on your body and mind. But after going through the first surgery, I remember thinking that a race is not going to seem as daunting, because of this experience. Sometimes you have to remember the original joy you found in your sport and remind yourself that it’s a privilege to be able to comp
– with files from the University of Guelph news services
