Did I mention I`m running for a bee?

Yep, that's right. Training is on track (in fact I was a week early) and I'm all systems go for the half at the Calgary Marathon on June 1st. I've joined the Nature Conservancy of Canada's (NCC's) Charity Challenge team, and we'll be raising funds to help protect landscapes across Canada as well as the species that live in them.

You can sponsor me here >

It's my first time running a race in Calgary, so I'm pretty excited. Not to mention, it's the Calgary Marathon's 50th anniversary. Imagine that: when the marathon started in 1964, women weren't even technically allowed to participate in half or full marathons. How far we've come!

To boot, I'm looking forward to working with our Charity Challenge team to raise awareness about NCC's work and to raise funds for the places where we work, and the species in them.

A little bit about the mason bee

• Unlike honey bees, mason bees are solitary;
• Mason bees are non-aggressive and for the most part do not sting;
• Females lay their eggs in individual chambers or hollow reeds;
• Once an egg is laid, the female places mud around it rather than wax and honey;
• In the spring, males emerge from their eggs first;
• There are more than 130 species of mason bees in North America.

Bees play a huge role in pollinating our food and plants. While they do not succumb to the same mites and parasites as European honeybees, they are still vulnerable to pests and diseases.

So while I'm running my 21 kilometres on June 1st, I'll be thinking about all the pollinators responsible for pollinating up to a third of all food crops. 

My colleagues on the Charity Challenge will all be choosing their own species to represent on their runs.

The bees, and Alberta's species, thank you for your support!

~HRG