A MESSAGE FROM We Got This!
In March 2017, I ran with teammate Jamie by my side all 26.2 miles. We stayed on pace, and finished looking as if we just completed a 5k, not a marathon.
It is more than crossing a finish line, it is accepting a challenge, pushing the limits and trying to make change by fundraising.
This is why I am so excited to do this for WeGotThis.org on Sunday, March 17, 2024.
WeGotThis.org is an online gift registry that cancer thrivers can add items to and easily send to loved ones that want to support them. It takes the guess work out of providing what someone really needs and will use.
Cancer has impacted my life, as it has so many others. I have felt helpless, powerless and … all those emotions there are no words for. We can still provide hope, kindness and love when it is so important. This gift registration is a small way to give power back to families with a cancer diagnosis.
I am running this race in honor of Elissa, the founder and CEO of WeGotThis.org. She is the most dynamic and dedicated woman that has ever existed. We ran her first half marathon together, we climbed 100 miles of hills in Lake Tahoe on bikes, and we will be completing a half marathon together in March 2024 for the nonprofit she founded.
I ran my first marathon in Los Angeles in March 2006. I had been casually running and helping my friend Cory with getting some miles for his first LA marathon. Little did I know that I would be running along side him. A veteran marathoner/lava man friend, Rob, purchased my bib and “surprised” me. He said, “You are ready, you always have been, you just don’t know it.”
He was completely wrong. I was not ready. Not even close to ready. Not only was I not fully prepared for the LAM, I had no idea what to expect. It was awful. I only ran with Cory the first few miles, and told him to run ahead for me to catch up. We never saw each other again on the course. In fact, he finished an hour earlier than me - I did finish. I made so many mistakes, and the most crippling was taking off my shoes afterwards. Limping while trying to find our car lost in a parking garage in downtown LA, I vowed to another do another marathon EVER.
Flash forward to 2016, after I finished my first half marathon with Team in Training (TNT), benefiting The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in honor of my dad. That experience was pivotal in my relationship with endurance sports. I felt that with this team I could do anything. I had an incredible run coach, Eric that engrained in me fundamentals for my marathon success. I signed up for LA marathon 2017, and broke my 2006 vow, it took 11 years and some incredible teammates.
With Coach Eric’s words always echoing in my mind, we trained right, and I felt ready. A long run a few weeks before LAM, I was amazed on how strong and prepared I felt. It was nothing like my experience in 2006. The words of Rob entered my head, “You are ready, you always have been, you just don’t know it.” Now I understood, and have always been stronger than than I thought.
My goal is $1,000 but I am more than confident we can get far past that in support of Elissa and other cancer thrivers. Perhaps we can make the experience with cancer just a little easier and more comfortable. We Got This!
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