IN MEMORY OF COACH DAN CUMMING

Coach Dan Cumming passed away of heart failure earlier this month while in Jamaica. He was planning to run the 10km event at the Reggae Marathon. He had competed in the event seven years in a row – this year would have been the 8th – and he loved everything about the race, the people, and the place itself.

He enjoyed racing and often ran with his family including his daughters Janna and Danielle, his son Cameron and grandsons Charlie and Jonah in many local events. His enthusiasm for the sport encouraged his family to participate. His wife Judi joined him by cheering him on or walking in some events.

At the age of 40 he started long distance running and became an avid marathon runner. He enjoyed volunteering for events and served as race director of the First Half Half Marathon for four years from 2007? to 2010. Dan started running with Forerunners clinics in 2009. He soon became a group leader, pacing and inspiring many runners to their first half and full marathons. Personally in 2009, he suggested that I run in a new kind of shoe which helped alleviate a knee injury and allowed me to start running again on a consistent basis.

Dan coached the Forerunners Main Street Learn to Run 5 km clinic. It was a new program that he developed to help build the running community in the East Van neighborhood of his youth. As they started their new 5 km program, he would take the new runners by the house he grew up in which was three blocks from the store.

Dan was a sprinter in high school. He raced against one of the most famous Canadian sprinters, Harry Jerome in the 100 yards at the Memorial Track in East Vancouver. The last time Dan ran with Forerunners we had a water-stop at the track and he shared his story of the race with several of the graduates of his program who are now running 10 km and half marathon events.

He was an excellent writer. He wrote the Forerunners Learn to Run 5 km book. He was co-author of the Running in the Zone book. He had a blog website where he shared running stories and his experiences.

His favorite charity was The Terry Fox Foundation. He served as race director of the South Surrey Terry Fox Run in 2018. Forerunners Main Street will be hosting a 5 km and 2.5 km Run/Walk on Sunday January 27^th to honor Dan and to raise funds for his favorite charity.

Dan had a lot of wisdom to share and had the right thing to say at the right time. If we were all a bit more like him the world would be a better place.

Dan’s Celebration of Life will be held at 1 pm Sunday, January 13th at Victory Memorial Park Funeral Center in South Surrey. Forerunners Main Street will host a 5 km and 2.5 km walk run on Sunday January 27th at 9 am to honor Dan and the proceeds will go to The Terry Fox Foundation. Breakfast will be served following the run.

Dan’s obituary is on the Dignity Memorial website. Here is the link.

Best Regards and Seasons Greetings,

Coach Carey
Forerunners Main Street