Members of the Brockville Road Runners, past and present, gathered on Parkedale at the Paul Mac’s parking lot on Thanksgiving Monday morning. At 8am they set out on a very special 5K run. The run was to celebrate the life of a longtime friend and very popular club member, Rick Steenwyk.

Rick had been courageously battling cancer over the last year and sadly passed, at only 58, on October 1, 2024.

After the 5K, members enjoyed, courtesy of the Locke family, some coffee (with the odd tea) and chat in the nearby Tim Hortons.  This location has been the site for the regular, post Saturday morning club training run coffee for many years.  Rick was a regular at these runs over the years.

A selection of photos contributed by a number of run participants:

On the Run:

Coffee Time:

Some written tributes previously paid to Rick by his running friends:

  • Rick was a wonderfully kind, caring and courageous person. It was a privilege to have known him and to call him a friend and a running buddy in the local Brockville Road Runners Club. We shared many a training run and race together.
  • We had the privilege of doing a number of training runs and races with Rick. He always knew when you needed some encouragement!! A very special human being and an honour to call him our friend.
  • You always let me draft behind you when things got tough, I can’t believe I’m writing on your memory wall – seems so surreal. Heaven got a gem this week.
  • Such an incredibly kind, gentle human being.

The running club joins in expressing sincere condolences to Shelley, Sarah and Shannon and to all the family. We will continue to provide our support and love in these difficult times. We will also work to keep Rick’s memory alive.

Shannon Steenwyk has posted on Facebook a family thank you to the Road Runners for their support of the morning’s special run. The text of that post may be found here on this the club website.