Posts Tagged ‘cancer’

The sun coming up Saturday morning was a bittersweet moment -- I was glad rest was coming soon, but I also wanted the night to keep going.

What I did Friday night/Saturday morning at Relay for Life has left me with an empty feeling that running a race leaves me with — I want more; I want “what’s next” to be right now.

At this point, I’m not sure if it’s the running that left me feeling this way — it certainly was far short of a race performance — or that a successful round of fundraising to fight cancer is over. I think it’s a combination of the two. I have this double feeling of emptiness — I am ready to train with more miles and run harder; I also want to do more to fight this disease.

I have things in mind, like DetermiNation that I mentioned in my last post, but I’m not quite ready to make a commitment to any particular event. It’s tough. I also want to take part in Relay for Life again next year — perhaps more than one. I have a desire to do more than what I’ve already done and it’s almost like I’m not sure what direction I should go.

While I figure out what’s next, I highly encourage everyone to get involved in running to fight something. While I’m passionate about fighting cancer, there are so many other things you can do.

It’s easy as a runner to get caught up in a self campaign – I’m doing this, or I’m doing that, or I have this problem. Question yourself whether or not that’s the type of runner you want to be.

If you’re running for a cause, you’re running for thousands. And those people could care less about how fast or slow you are. They’ll be happy that you’re fighting for them and, very possibly, saving their lives in the process.

It took two pairs of shirts, socks, underwear and shoes, two hats, one Garmin, a lot of sweat, a visit with my chiropractor at 1:30 a.m. and a lot of fight after maybe an hour of broken sleep, but 13.2 miles of running and a few more miles of walking later, Relay for Life is over.

That’s right, 13.2. Not 13.1. An extra tenth of a mile more than I promised just as a way to put a little more umph into kicking cancer’s butt.

I broke my running into three segments — 5.1 miles around 10:30 p.m. with a friend I met recently on Daily Mile; 5.1 miles a little less than 2 hours later; and 3 more miles that began at 4:45 a.m.

Those last 3 miles were in a Zombie-like state. I don’t really remember them that much. There’s really no other experience to compare it to.

Trying to get some sleep around 2:30 a.m.

It was so worth it though. Thanks to some final donations around 6 a.m., my fundraising passed $1,200 for this Relay for Life. My team is currently just pennies away from $3,400, but I expect that to get very close to or pass $3,500 by Monday.

All of the Lynchburg teams combined have raised more than $285,000 so far with that total likely to rise significantly after the final donations roll in.

This concludes the fourth year in a row that I’ve done fundraising to fight cancer and the second year taking part in a Relay for Life. I’ve raised more than $3,000 in this span. It’s such an unbelievable feeling — if you’ve never done it, I highly encourage it.

For my fifth year in 2012, I’m already looking at doing an American Cancer Society DetermiNation race — as soon as I figure that out, I will let you know.

As passionate as I am about running, I’m becoming just as passionate about fighting cancer. Let’s do this together.

This is what 13.1 miles looks like on a track. The lone line is from where I ended the first segment on one side of the track and started the second run on the other side.

The outpouring of support for my Relay for Life efforts this year has been amazing. From so many people I don’t even know, to friends I haven’t talked to in years, to my family, the donations have been awesome.

I hit my initial goal of $500 a while ago – remember that for every $50 I’d run a mile up to 10 miles. (Yes, I know, I didn’t do a follow-up like I had planned to do.) After I hit that goal, my team leader Carrie and I put together another challenge – hit our team goal of $2,000 and I’ll run 13.1 miles and she’ll walk during the entire 12-hour event.

We hit that goal this week. Now another team member has stepped up to the plate to do something wild – hit $2,500 and she’ll also run 13.1 miles that night. (Note that due to my “comeback” from the injury, these 13.1 miles will be spread out at various times of the night, not all at once.)

We are doing these things overnight because, quite simply, cancer never sleeps. The inconvenience of walking for so long and running at odd hours of the day are reminders to us that cancer keeps people up all night from pain and worry; cancer doesn’t care what time of the day it is.

I’ve had so many family members impacted by cancer – an uncle, my grandparents, my wife’s grandmother, a great aunt, my dad. From those who have passed to those who have survived, I am reminded that just because we’ve hit our goal that I shouldn’t stop trying to raise money for such a great cause.

That’s why I’d like to take this a step further – if I get $25 in donations by 9 p.m. this Sunday, I’ll match it with another $25 of my own. The minimum to donate this year is just $5. That’s less than a lunch out or a coffee … or put one less gallon of gas in your car this weekend.

My donation page can be found HERE.

Let’s make this happen.

UPDATE: A special thanks to Twitter follower @frenchiegurl for a $25 donation to make this happen. I’ll make my matching gift this weekend, but don’t let that stop you from donating!

As I write this just shy of 9 p.m. Thursday, I am just $110 from my initial goal of $500 for Relay for Life. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, for every $50 I raise I’ll run a mile, up to 10 miles. Now that I’m so close to my goal, I want to raise the stakes a bit. First, though, I need to get to $500. If I get to that mark by 8 p.m. ET tomorrow, I’ll announce what I’ll do. Just a hint — it involves hitting our team goal of $2,000.

Fellow team leader Carrie has already announced that if we reach our team goal she will walk the entire 12 hours of the event, minus bathroom breaks. We’re at 56 percent of our goal with 57 days to go, but that is absolutely no reason to not donate now.

In an email to friends of mine and on posts to Facebook, I have stated that we’re doing these seemingly crazy things because cancer never sleeps. By stepping outside of our comfort zone and doing this for such a good cause, we will be reminded of the never-ending fight to end cancer. I think the words I used after last year’s Relay sums this up well: “An inconvenient run is simple; battling cancer is not. But thanks to the many people who donated to this effort, we’re perhaps one day closer to winning the battle.”

This year Relay for Life has lowered the minimum donation to just $5. While $5 might not sound like much, every little bit makes a big difference. To donate to my efforts, please visit my donation page.

8 p.m. update, April 8: A big THANK YOU to everyone who made it happen. I hit my $500 goal and then some today. Up next: getting to the team goal of $2,000. Do that and I’ll up my running distance to a half marathon.

For the second year in a row I am taking part in Relay for Life. This time around I’m giving myself some more time to do fundraising, but that doesn’t mean you should wait to the last minute to donate. In fact, the earlier I can hit my goal, the more I can prepare for this.

Why?

Because I’m running for it again. My goal is the same as last year — $500. For every $50 donated, I’ll run a mile, up to 10 miles. Anything over $500 is of course welcome.

Last year’s experience was truly special for me and I realized so much when I ran those 10 miles. I did it for my Uncle John, who died 6 years ago from lung and brain cancer; I thought a lot about my dad, a head and neck cancer survivor; I ran many miles for my grandfather, who had lymphoma a few years ago; I thought a lot about my friend David, who’s gracious mother died from liver cancer. The list can go on and on.

As part of my fundraising effort, I’ve created a tag on Twitter, #runforRelay, to talk about it there over the coming 80 days and to live Tweet during the event. Maybe I can convince others out there to do the same thing.

To donate, please click here.