Running for her brother

By Lethbridge Herald on June 28, 2025.

Erin Bodnar of Florida is running through Alberta to raise money in honour of her brother who lives with MS.

Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
Lethbridge Herald

A caring sister with indirect ties to our city is running across Alberta to raise funds to end Multiple Sclerosis in support of her brother, and will be going through Lethbridge on Tuesday.   

Erin Bodnar will run a total of 345 kilometres in seven days to raise awareness and funds for MS as part of the MS Canada “We Challenge MS” fundraiser. Her brother Tom Bodnar lives in Calgary and was diagnosed with MS in 2017. 

“I live in Florida, so it has always been hard for me to be able to help out on a daily basis obviously. I can’t help out with his young daughter or things like that, so I started looking for ways to help out,” says Bodnar. 

She shares that she started by doing one marathon for MS and raised a little bit of money then. After that she found a social media ad from MS run in the United States. 

“I did that in 2023 and run from Lincoln, Nebraska to Des Moines, Iowa in seven days. But I really wanted to do something for Canada and MS Canada, since my brother is here in Calgary I decided to run across Alberta,” says Bodnar. 

She says her brother helped her plan the route, and she will begin her run today at the Saskatchewan border by Walsh and will end her journey in Waterton Lakes Park on July 4. 

“I have been running a lot to prepare. I have a running coach, so she has helped me out with some of my plans. Last weekend I ran for four hours on Saturday and four hours on Sunday in the Florida heat, and it was terrible, so I am excited to run in Alberta.”

She says she’s aware that the temperatures are going to be high, but there will be no humidity and therefore it will be a more pleasant run than it would be at home. 

“A big part of it for me is that this is temporary pain. It’s going to be hard, and it’s going to be painful, but I know that once I’m done and recover, I will be fine. But knowing that people with MS live with pain, numbness, and fatigue everyday… I can do this for a week,” says Bodnar. 

Her brother Tom lived in Lethbridge while apprenticing to become an electrician, but when he was diagnosed with MS he was working as a pilot in Calgary and was unable to continue working in the field as a result. 

She’s raised almost $11,500 of her $20,000 goal and two of her corporate sponsors are Lethbridge businesses, Teacup Tiny Homes and Two Guys and A Pizza Place.

Bodnar says that she would love to see some local support while running through Lethbridge and cheering her on. Her schedule is as follows. 

• Head West on HWY 3 just before Barnwell

• Continue until HWY 4/43 Street (around KM 42 for the morning – approx. 9:30-10 am)

• Head South on HWY 4/43 Street

• Head West on S. Parkside Drive

• Take Coal Banks Trail South to HWY 5 (KM 44-45 approx. 10:00-10:30 am)

• Head South on HWY 5 until tired of running or just past Range Road 221A

Anyone interested in supporting her with a monetary donation towards her fundraiser can do so by visiting https://msspwcms.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donordrive.team&teamID=14066 

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Southern Albertan

4 hours ago

Good on Erin Bodnar!
This brings back concerns re: the correlation between MS and vitamin D levels and exposure to hydrogen sulphide (H2S)….well worth researching and reading.

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