All I Can Say is WOW!!!

SO, first off - sorry for the long gap in time since the last post... As everyone knows, fundraising has gone very well, and I'm thankful for all who have helped cure blood cancer! I really want to thank my friend Samantha McCaully-Green and the Crawl for Cancer for their VERY generous donation to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. If there is a Crawl for Cancer in your town, be sure to put together a team and participate! This is proof of the amazing work they are doing!!!!!

Well, the big marathon... Last Friday it was off to San Francisco for the Nike Woman's Marathon. I was amazed to see all of the other Team in Training participants from all over the US and Canada. Unknown to me at the time NWM (Nike Women's Marathon) is the 10 largest marathon and the LARGEST Women's marathon in the WORLD! WOW right??

So the event started with a large dinner called the Inspiration Dinner LLS and TNT (Team in Training) does for us. As soon as we (the participants) all walked into the hall, hundreds of LLS staff members were there cheering VERY loudly for us. FOR ME! It was so loud, so overwhelming, so emotional. It made me realize what a big thing I was a part of. As I made my way though the procession, I noticed a man holding a sign that said, "I'm a survivor because of you"; I began to tear up. That is when the "ugly cry" started. The millions TNT and marathons raise for LLS does help find cures and treatments for blood cancer! For this event alone, we with TNT raised 13 MILLION DOLLARS for LLS and NWM raised 105 Million! Can you believe it?? I couldn't. I was overwhelmed... This money could be helping Michelle and so many like her.

Throughout the dinner, we were able to see so many faces and names of those this program helps. We heard from people touched by LLS and who are dealing with blood cancer. Needless to say, many of us were left in tears. We were so touched and honored to be a part of such an amazing cause.

Well, race day... The event was to start at 7 am. Unfortunately, the day was gray, cold, and WET. Yup, it rained most of the day! UGH! BUT despite the cold rain, my spirit was high and I was on a mission to FINISH the event. The scenery was amazing, with a lot to look at along the way. There were performances by a wonderful gospel choir, cheerleaders, bands, and DJ's spinning the best tunes to run to! The hills were TOUGH and MUCH harder than I had anticipated, but I managed to make it up each one. I will admit though, somewhere around mile eight I was getting pretty tired and stiff. BUT I just kept thinking about Michelle and something my Honor Patient Matthew said... "If you think this is hard, you should try chemo" and that kept me going. It's crazy to see what you can do when you are determined to do it!

I was able to cross the finish line quicker than I had ever thought! In just over three hours I did 13.1 miles. My first 1/2 marathon. I had to do this, not for me, but for my BFF laying in ICU back home, for my new friend Matthew Mellor who just went into remission, a fellow racer Toney Russell, my friend Kelle's step-mom, and the millions of others effected by blood cancer. I crossed the finish line, received my Tiffany necklace, and reflected. When I signed up for this almost six months ago, I had three goals. To help make a difference, to raise as much money as possible for LLS and to finish my event. I'm proud but humble to say I accomplished all I set out to do. After all donations and corporate matching is accounted for, with YOUR help, I raised over $7,000 for LLS.

Overall this experience has made me stronger, thankful, grateful, and hopefully and better person. I've made new friends, got in better shape and had a lot of fun. For me, this has been a life line while I've worried about Michelle and in my own way, I've felt I've been able to do something for her.

I plan on keeping this blog up and my facebook page up, because I WILL be doing another event! I'll keep you updated on what I'm doing!

Thank you again for your support and help during all of this!!!