‘I want her legacy to live on’: B.C. man runs 24 hours for family of slain woman

A Merritt man has finished a grueling 24-hour run to show support for the children of Pamela Jarvis, a woman killed in his community last month.

A Merritt, B.C., man has finished a grueling 24-hour run in the cold to show support and raise funds for the children of a woman killed in his community last month.

Mark Nendick ran 402 times around a track in Merritt, clocking a total distance of 156 kilometres during the event that began Saturday at 8 a.m. and ended Sunday, exactly 24 hours later.

“It was just amazing to have the community come together the way that they did,” Nendick told CTV News shortly after he finished the run, during which he only took brief breaks.

He said the event raised $3,000 for the six children of Pamela Jarvis, 45, who was killed on Dec. 16.

Her husband, Christopher Jarivs, is charged with second degree murder.

Nendick said his wife knew Pamela Jarvis and his children have gone to school with some of her kids.

“She was such a lovely person and just willing to help anyone, and she didn’t deserve her fate,” he said.

Nendick, an ultra-endurance athlete who turned 48 on Sunday, said following Jarvis’ tragic death, he wanted to do something to help her children.

He said the one thing he knows how to do well is run.

“I want her legacy to live on,” an emotional Nendick said.

“The news cycle and life just moves so fast, and people get forgotten. These kids have their whole lives ahead of them and they need help and support,” he explained.

Nendick said three of Jarvis’ children attended the run, two of them running alongside him at one point.

Some of Jarvis’ children, along with friends, also volunteered at the event.

Nendick teamed up for fundraising with the Valentine’s Day Paper Hearts campaign launched by Boston Pizza in Merritt, dedicated to helping Pamela Javis’ children. The paper hearts campaign runs until Feb. 15.