It seems that I often find myself in situations in which I am wondering what I have gotten myself into. And how I got into it.

The last question is the easier to answer — usually I have followed one or the other or both of my daughters. And usually it pertains to skiing. “Come on, Mom, you can do this.” It seems like a good idea at the time.

Then I find myself on a double black diamond or jump turning down a frozen waterfall that, maybe, I can manage technically, but my nerve has long since deserted me. And there is a daughter having to talk me down.

It seems I have a great sense of adventure until adventure looks me in the face.

I had a similar moment this past weekend about the six-kilometre mark in a 10k run. I am not sure how it happened but sometime in May or June, daughter Kate and colleague Clare O’Hara came up with the idea of forming a team to enter the Underwear Affair, a 10k run or 5k walk to raise money for cancer research at Toronto’s Sunnybrook Hospital.

There are Underwear Affairs in cities across the country and the idea isn’t just to raise money but to raise awareness of cancers below the waist. The “conversation stoppers,” as Kate calls them. Hence, the underwear.

There is no doubt there needs to be more awareness and I feel I should do my part. If I knew 10 years ago what I know now about colorectal cancer, there is a good chance I could have avoided the whole thing. Colorectal cancer is one cancer that is preventable — all you have to do is endure a few hours of discomfort (in which you develop an intimate relationship with your toilet) and have a scope explore your nether regions. It is nothing compared to the consequences of not doing it.

I guess that is how I ended up part of the team: personal experience.

Kate, too, certainly has her personal experience in the battle against cancer, because nobody battles this alone. Clare has had her encounter, too. About a year ago, the mother of Clare’s best friend died of colon cancer. Her best friend was seven-months pregnant at the time.

And personal experience is what brought us all together at Woodbine Park in Toronto on Saturday, August 23. There were 1,000 participants who had been touched by cancers below the waist. A few of us were survivors but far too many were there representing friends and loved ones who had lost the battle.

But everyone was there to celebrate. Runners and walkers alike wore a stunning array of underwear — and some little else. Eight-month-old Kaiden was there wearing his best trainers and a T-shirt that said “Grandma.”

Clare, Kate and I called our team “The Semi-colons” in honour of the fact we are all writers and frequent users of semi-colons, and to recognize the fact that I have less colon than I had two years ago. We may have been among the slowest runners, but we were among the proudest.

Despite my trepidation at the 6k mark, we finished the run — in one hour and 26 minutes — and did marginally more running than we did walking. I have to thank Clare and Kate for doing the run at a pace I could manage and for their encouraging words — that familiar refrain of “You can do it, Mom.”

And I have to thank everyone who donated. The Semi-colons raised $7,000 — the Affair raised $700,000 — and we are determined to have a bigger team and raise more money next year.

I may not know how I get into these things but I am always glad I did — after the fact.

—TESSA WILMOTT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF