LONDON, Ontario — Deana Porter could be described as “caring, humble, encouraging, sweet, and a massive athletic power house.” From marathons to Ironmans, she was always training for the next adventure, and those races took her across Canada and the US. She was often seen running the paths throughout London or cycling through the outlying areas, and always maintained a positive attitude. Her dedication to her sport, but more importantly, to her friends and family, were some of her greatest assets. Deana was an enthusiastic participant in many Ragnar Relay races over the years, so it seemed fitting that her running friends formed a relay team, called themselves Deana’s Divas, and ran in her honour for this year’s ONERUN event.

On June 13, the 11 runners came to Springbank Park and completed a 100km relay, with the entire team running the final lap as a group. Relating favourite “Deana stories” along the way, these women shared both laughs and tears, and honoured their dear friend lost far too early to cancer on March 5, 2021, while participating in a locally-based charity event and raising over $4,000.

ONERUN was established in 2010 by Londoner Theresa Carriere after her own diagnosis with breast cancer in 2007. For the first few years, Theresa completed the solo 100km running event from Sarnia to London, receiving a tremendous amount of support along the way. Since 2010, ONERUN has raised over $1.4 million dollars to benefit organizations such as Wellspring London and Childcan.

“The conversations and connections we developed over the years of running together, will be remembered forever,” said one of the team participants. “We know that Deana’s kindness, strength, and spirit will live on in our hearts.”

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