Athabasca’s Kate Nunn will be pushing her body to the limits for a greater cause on July 24, as she prepares to swim, run and bike a 113-kilometre half-Ironman race in Calgary, raising money to help bring a Congolese refugee family to the area.
Nunn set her sights on the goal of raising $4,000 for the Athabasca Interfaith Refugee Sponsorship Society (AIRSS), to help bring the family of 10 to the Athabasca region.
“I always tell my kids ‘Doing something is better than doing nothing,’” Nunn said. “It’s difficult to know how to make changes from the problems that we here about ... This is my way of doing something small that will hopefully make a difference and add up to something big.”
Nunn said the idea came to her as she volunteered with AIRSS to help the family, while she was also studying to become an immigration lawyer.
“I started training for my Ironman and I thought, ‘Why not put all of theses three things together and try and raise some money?’” she said. “So it’s kind of an opportunity for me to go out and support this cause. Doing and event like (this) seems like a good excuse to get people to support it.”
Nunn has raised over $2,000 towards her $4,000 mark, which – if raised – will cover the cost of two children from the family of ten. She said she picked the particular mark, because the two refugee children are similar in age to her own children.
“I cannot believe the response,” she said. “Like people are just responding with so much generosity and support. It has just blown me out of the water.”
Nunn said she hopes to complete the 113-kilometre race in 6.5 hours. She currently trains nine times a week with her son, Jake Gerriste.
“I feel pretty darn lucky to be out there training on my bike in beautiful Athabasca,” she said. “Training with Jake, who’s doing the Summer Games – it just seems like a real fortunate position, to be in an event like that.”
