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Delta firefighter runs marathon in full gear to raise money for B.C. Children’s Hospital

Campaign includes online auction that concludes Sunday
Reid Taylor marathon
Delta firefighter ran a full marathon in all his gear on Feb. 20 to raise money for B.C. Children's Hospital.

Reid Taylor has pulled off a tremendous feat in his annual fundraising effort for B.C. Children’s Hospital and he’s not done yet.

Last Sunday, the Delta firefighter ran a full-marathon (42-km) wearing 50-pounds of his firefighter gear.

“It was a tough challenge but I finished it in five hours,” said Taylor. “Most importantly we are sitting around $12,000 in donations, so we should get close to that $20,000 goal.”

While accepting donations on his B.C. Children’s Hospital’s Superhero page, the second component of Taylor’s fundraising campaign is an online auction that runs until 8 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 27. Items up for auction can be found here.

For the past four years the Delta firefighter has raised $37,000 by doing a 40-yard dash in his full firefighting gear, which he did in conjunction with Rich Eisen of the NFL Network who has done a 40-yard dash on air during the annual NFL Scouting Combine.

Reid stepped up his challenge significantly after having his own personal experience at B.C. Children’s in the past year.

“My wife and I have a young family, a five-year-old boy, a three-year-old boy and our third baby, a girl arrived this past April. When she was born, she had to stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for two weeks for medical issues and was transferred to B.C. Children’s Hospital for final tests before she was discharged. I wanted to put a bigger effort into this campaign,” explained Taylor.