Qun Gee was just 35 when he felt a chest pain while running one day.
"I didn't think much if it," he says.
Gee was a healthy, active young man who ran 10 kilometre loops during his lunch hours, cycled and played hockey.
But the pain returned the next day and became constant a few nights later, he says.
His doctor couldn't find anything at first, but told him to stop his activities until they could get him a stress test.
One night soon after, in mid-December 2005, he ended up in the Burnaby General Hospital emergency room at 4 a.m.
He was having a heart attack.
An angiogram showed that one of his arteries was blocked. He was in the hospital for five days.
"It was a very traumatic experience," Gee says.
In February 2006, he was sent to take part in the Healthy Heart Program at the hospital. The program helps patients recovering from cardiac illnesses or start a healthy lifestyle tailored to recovering.
For Gee, the challenge was slowing down his active lifestyle for a while.
"It was a lot slower pace than I was used to," he says.
By May 2006, he was able to run the 5K at the hospital's Rhythm of Life event.
A year after his heart attack, his doctor gave him the green light to run half-marathons again, and a year after that, to run full marathons, he says.
He hasn't had any incidences since the heart attack, Gee adds.
This Sunday, Gee and other Burnaby residents will be participating in the 13th annual Rhythm of Life: The Run and Walk for Everyone.
The run began as a fundraiser for the Healthy Heart Program, but has become a major fundraiser for the hospital itself in the past two years.
Pete Matino, a cardiac exercise therapist at the hospital, is one of the founders of the event.
It was started to cover education for staff and bursaries for patients with the program, he says.
The run has raised more and more money every year, he says.
"One person raised $4,000 on their own one year," Matino adds.
The Burnaby Hospital Foundation took over organizing and running the event last year, to raise funds for hospital equipment.
"They were able to grow it," Matino says, adding it has become one of the main fundraising drives for the hospital, along with the annual golf tournament in the summer.
"I see this as being a major event for Burnaby," he says, adding the venue - at Burnaby Lake Park - is beautiful.
This will be the first year Matino isn't on hand for the event, as he is on vacation.
There is a 10K fun run, a 5K run or walk or a 1K family stroll.
The event includes a barbecue lunch and entertainment with the Vancouver Outreach Community Sweet Soul Gospel Choir, Pancho and Sal, and The iTones.
Registration opens at 8: 30 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 11, and the race starts at 10 a.m. at Burnaby Lake Park, 3760 Sperling Ave.
The funds this year will go towards a $30,000 defibrillator for the hospital's emergency department.
For more information, go to www.bhfoundation.ca.
