Welcome to Norma Bastidas Official Website
How Everything Began...
In 2006 my oldest son Karl was diagnosed with an incurable eye condition could potentionaly make him go blind, This diagnose was too much to an already struggling single parent of two young boys. Unable to sleep I started to go for a run every morning. It was then that I realized that my mood improved and I started to feel more hopeful. Of course I still didn’t know how to help my son and that’s when I placed my first call for help, to the Canadian Institute for the Blind, They gave me all the help that I needed to make sure my son lives his life with dignity. Watching my son bounce back from such a terrible diagnosis I realized that I needed to do something to thank charities like the cnib, Foundation Fighting Blindness and Operation Eyesight Universal that provide care, fund research to find a cure and provide treatment to eye conditions that are treatable but the treatment is unavailable because of poverty
It was by total accident that I stumble upon a race near my house, It was a 78 mile race named the Canadian Death Race, when I sign to run it and asked my friends to pledge me for every mile I finish, I had only run 1 marathon in my life and it was a couple of weeks before the race. So my friends pledge me to NOT go. I didn’t finish the race, I was forced to pull out because of hypothermia but there was something amazing about it, I made it to 56 miles. Teaching me that fear had hold me back significantly. What else could I do if I gave myself the opportunity?
And that’s how it all started, a simple desire to do something about my sons diagnoses that it was positive.
Since then I have gone to run many more ultras, on all 7 continents, also summit some difficult mountains all to show my kids that anything can be accomplished if they are willing to work hard.
If you had asked me a few years ago what was my quest about I would have said that it was to fight blindness, now I realize that I am here to show my kids to live life with passion. My passions are running, exploring and dedicating my life to find a cure for my son and others around the world like him,
I hope in this site you find something that convinces you to find your passion and help others along the way.