He loves running. But he likes helping other kids more.

Zach Jahnke spots the garbage can before his mother. 

It’s between 10 and 20 metres away, roughly the length of a residential utility pole if you laid it on the ground. Jahnke whips in front of his mother and holds his hand out. 

“Mom! Mom! Mom!” He shouts on a grassy meadow inside Waterfront Commons Park in the South Bonson neighbourhood of Pitt Meadows. “I have an idea.” 

Jahnke, 9, points to the garbage can and challenges his mother to a race. Carly Jahnke, his mother, nods her head and Jahnke bends down, grabs his sneakers, and fiddles with the laces on his black and gold Adidas high tops. 

He extends his hands to his mom’s boots and brushes the tips of the shoes with his fingers, before putting one foot in front of another and crouching into a start. 

Outside the field, a group of cyclists — clad in bright, black spandex and glasses — gather at a coffee shop less than 100 metres away. Walkers stroll along a dirt trail that parallels the Fraser River. 

Both are oblivious to the race that’s about to happen. But this love of running is, in part, what led this nine-year-old boy to raise more than $2,000 to help kids with diabetes.

Four years ago, Jahnke was diagnosed with diabetes. 

At the time, Jahnke and his brother were experiencing flu-like symptoms. But when his brother started to get better, Jahnke got worse. He drank lots of water and electrolytes, however, he continued to stumble and lose his balance while walking, leading his parents to take him to the hospital. 

“We come in and 20 minutes later… the doctor comes in and is like, ‘How long has he been diabetic for?’” Carly said. “And we’re like, ‘Ohhhhh.’” 

The diagnosis came as a surprise to his parents, who do not have a history of diabetes in either of their families. Jahnke, who lives in Langley with his family, then had to undergo one year of treatment before getting an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor.  

At the same time, Jahnke started to get interested in running. His passion for the sport began in elementary school — where he ran track and cross country for fun. But he was also fascinated by tracking the number of steps he racked up each day on his smart watch. 

“He runs, but this kid, he does like 14,000, 15,000 steps every day,” Carly said, adding that every 1,000 steps is roughly one kilometre. Jahnke regularly comes home after every school day to compare his steps with his mother, who also has a smart watch. 

“He beats me a bunch. With his school days, he’s had a few 21,000 step days.”

As his passion for running and being active soared, Carly started searching for more events that could serve as an outlet for her son’s energy. In 2021, she came across the Mad Dasher Run online, an annual 5 and 10 kilometre race in Pitt Meadows that also serves as a fundraiser for diabetes. 

The first year he ran, Jahnke set a goal of raising $100. After surpassing that target, he upped next year’s number to $250. This year, he wanted to raise $500. Two weeks before the race on May 26, he has already racked up $1,200. 

All in all, after three years of running the race, he’s raised roughly $2,500. 

“He’s been participating, asking family and friends for donations,” said Neli Avila, founder of the Mad Dashers Run, who was also surprised with her own diabetes diagnosis later in life. “He’s raised over $1,000, which is pretty decent for a young nine year old.”

The money goes towards sending other kids with diabetes to a summer camp hosted by Diabetes Canada in July on the Sunshine Coast, a camp that Jahnke has attended for the last handful of years. 

“It’s one thing to say, ‘I’m raising money for Diabetes Canada,’ but I think for him, he made an association that [sending] a kid to camp costs $1,000, so that’s my goal over the next few years,” Carly said. 

The race also gave Jahnke and Carly a chance to connect with other people living with diabetes, and, potentially, find a role model — something that was especially important considering there are few kids that have diabetes at his elementary school.

“We chatted with one ultra marathoner who was diabetic after the race last year,” Carly said. “He was hardcore, he just did the 10k as a break between his longer runs.” 

The Mad Dashers race has continued to grow every year, Avila said. Last year, there were more than 100 participants, double the number of people from a few years earlier, who combined to raise about $5,000. 

This year, with an official timing system in place, the number of entries has surpassed 150. 

“It’s really becoming a good community, small town even for a good cause,” Avila said. 

Although Jahnke has his sights on raising even more money, personally, he hopes to break an hour in the 10 kilometre race for the first time. 

But Jahnke is a kid. And many kids love to move, be active, and come up with new adventures on the spot.

On a sunny Saturday afternoon earlier this month at Waterfront Commons Park, the same spot where he will run his first 10k at the end of May, Jahnke is focused on running as fast as he can to a garbage can on the shore of the Fraser River. 

He lines up next to his mom.

“Three!” He shouts.

“Two!”

“ONE.” 

He sprints towards the river, arms pumping. His mother jogs behind him with a smile on her face. 

Rays of sunshine glimmer off the river. 

Jahnke touches the garbage can and circles back for his mother.