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Running from Cowichan for cancer fight

Don’t mind the man donning the Union Jack short shorts slowing down traffic along the Trans-Canada Highway Saturday – he’s running for a great cause.
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Saanich police quartermaster Kevin Nunn

Don’t mind the man donning the Union Jack short shorts slowing down traffic along the Trans-Canada Highway Saturday – he’s running for a great cause.

Kevin Nunn will begin a gruelling, 60-kilometre trek from Duncan to Saanich around 5:30 a.m. tomorrow. He hopes to raise $10,000 for pediatric cancer research and Camp Goodtimes before he reaches his destination.

“Adults understand when they go through treatment and trauma. They know why they’re undergoing chemotherapy and losing their hair. Kids don’t understand, they just want to be kids,” Nunn says of his inspiration.

Five of Nunn’s co-workers, officers with the Saanich Police Department, are participating in the Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock later this month. The money he raises from his Malahat Challenge Run will be split among the five Saanich police riders.

Nunn, like most Canadians, has lost someone close to him due to cancer. His father passed away in October 2009 from lung and bone cancer.

The 48 year old didn’t get a chance to say goodbye.

A British expat, Nunn was en route home to see his father when he got the news that he died.

“Without a doubt that’s something no family should face,” Nunn says, adding he realizes every dollar raised for cancer research is another dollar toward finding a cure and putting an end to such tragedies.

The Saanich police quartermaster is a mixture of nerves, apprehension and excitement leading up to the run, but says he’ll have enough inspiration thanks to his goal of helping children.

“What I go through, my little venture over the Malahat, that’s nothing compared to what they face,” he says.

To help Nunn reach his fundraising goal, visit www.copsforcancerbc.ca, click Vancouver Island Region, then search Kevin Nunn under Make a Donation.

There will also be a Cops for Cancer car accepting donations as it escorts Nunn down the highway.

kslavin@saanichnews.com