Aboriginal runner part of Team Diabetes

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When Sandra Juutilainen travels to Rome this spring, she'll be seeing the Colisseum, the Piazza Venezia, the Roman Forum, and the Vatican. But she probably won't have time to stop and enjoy the view.

Those are just some of the sights to see along the course of this year's Rome marathon, which Juutilainen will be competing in to raise money for the Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA).

Juutilainen, a member of Oneida Nation of the Thames, is one of 50 people from across Canada participating in the March 24 marathon as part of Team Diabetes Canada. Although this will be Juutilainen's third time running in a marathon, it will be her first as a member of the team.

Team Diabetes Canada is a new fundraising program, launched by the CDA in 2000. Through the program, people from across the country can join the team and compete in marathons, mountain bike relays, adventure races or an ironman triathlon, while raising money for the CDA at the same time.

Juutilainen got involved in Team Diabetes Canada after seeing information about the program at one of the previous marathons she'd run in.

"There was information about Team Diabetes Canada, and it talked about raising money for the Canadian Diabetes Association and running marathons in different countries," she said. After learning more about the program, she signed up to participate in the Rome marathon.

Juutilainen said she decided to get involved in Team Diabetes Canada because it combined running marathons, something she liked to do anyway, with raising funds for the CDA.

"Plus the opportunity to go to Rome. That helped too."

As a registered dietician working in Six Nations of the Grand River, promoting a healthy and active lifestyle as a way to manage or prevent diabetes is something she does on an ongoing basis. It's also an important part of her life on a more personal level, because of the prevalence of diabetes within her own family. Both of her parents, and both sets of her grandparents, have diabetes.

Each member of the team going to Rome has to raise $5,500 through sponsorships and other fundraising activities. Juutilainen is organizing a silent auction to help her reach her goal. Approximately half of the money raised by each team member will be used to cover the cost of their race registration fees, airfare and accommodations, as well as to provide training and team uniforms.

According to Janelle Martin, co-ordinator of community programs with the CDA, no previous marathon experience is required to join Team Diabetes Canada. In fact, about 75 per cent of participants in the marathon events so far have been full-time runners.

In addition to helping raise funds, the Team Diabetes Canada program has also helped to raise the profile of the CDA, Martin said.

"The best way to prevent Type 2 is to lead an active lifestyle. And that's a very key message for our organization, that we want to make people aware that a healthy lifestyle is very important. And it's also very important in managing Type 1. And so in a program like this, where we have all these ambassadors, basically, out in the community, who are talking about what they're doing, really does help raise the profile of the organization."

To make donations to the CDA on Juutilainen's behalf, or to find out more about Team Diabetes Canada, contact Janelle Martin at 1-800-361-1306, ext. 486, or by e-mail at martin@diabetes.ca.