Rosemary Edgeworth Seminuk is finally getting the opportunity to go to her father's hometown of Sunderland, England when she runs in the Sunderland half marathon in May.
Edgeworth Seminuk will run in the half marathon May 4, her first half marathon, during her vacation to England April 26-May 12.
However, this trip is much more than a vacation, and more than just about running.
She has never been to the place where her father was born, and lived part of his life, and through a family contact was able to locate someone from her father's past.
"I wasn't expecting to learn much about my dad, but I found out about this gentleman, so we're going to stay with him while we're in Sunderland," Edgeworth Seminuk said, "I wanted to go to feel this connection to my dad, he's been gone 15 years, and for me it's just to feel that connection to him and to my heritage."
Her father's connection to this man goes back four generations.
In World War Two, her father, and five other Canadians, stayed with him and his family.
The trip to Sunderland, May 2-6, and her running in the half marathon May 4, is bookended by trips to London.
This will be her first time going to Europe, and it is something she has been planning on doing for a long time.
"I've wanted to go ever since I was a girl, it got put off and put off,and finally I decided this year I was going to go," Edgeworth Seminuk said.
As for the half marathon itself, she has never run in one before, but is an avid runner.
Last year, she ran the Mother's Day run in Smithers, which is a 10 km run.
She does have an expectation of how long it will take her to run the half marathon in Sunderland, but says more than anything it's just a personal thing for herself, to do it, and run her first half marathon in the place where her father was born.
And while this is a holiday for her, she has planned a couple of tours in London, and she is excited to take the train back and forth from London to Sunderland and back, she says that this trip is so much more than just a holiday.
"I'm pretty excited, I mean to some people it's just a holiday, and it is for sure, but it's just so much more to me, it's hard to believe I'm going," Edgeworth Seminuk said, "I guess it's just the reality is starting to set in because it is an emotional thing for me."
In the end, her ultimate goal is to learn more about her father and where he grew up.
"I knew someone was over there, but I hadn't had any contact with him," Edgeworth Seminuk said, "he said he has a lot of stories about my dad during wartime and stuff like that."