For a 28-year-old Indigenous runner from Prince Rupert, B.C., Aug. 9 will mark the beginning of a physically- and emotionally-taxing journey: running seven marathons in seven days. Noah Allison will be making the 300-km journey in honour of his late father, Markus, who of bladder cancer two years ago; Allison will be raising funds for the B.C. Cancer Foundation’s Patient Relief Fund.
Allison began fundraising in his father’s name in 2023, running 144 km from Prince Rupert to Terrace, B.C., and raising more than $6,000 to support families impacted by cancer, helping to cover expenses for travel, accommodation, groceries and medical supplies. Now, for his third edition of the tribute, he’s rebranded the journey, now called “Miles for Markus.” This time, he’ll be trekking from Prince Rupert to Terrace and back–his longest distance yet.
Luckily, he won’t be running alone. “I’ll have tons of people running with me,” Allison told Canadian Running. “So far I’ve got a list of 14 and I expect it to grow to around 25-30 by the time of the event.” He’s even had some non-runners commit to trying to run a full day’s marathon alongside him. The journey will be shared on Instagram.
The west coaster, a member of the Tsm’syen First Nations, began running in April 2023; since then, he’s completed three 50K ultras, two marathons and nine half-marathons. He’s also taken on David Goggins’ 4x4x48 challenge (4 miles/6.4 km every four hours for 48 hours straight) and has a 13-month-long streak of running 100 km per month.
