I know she hasn’t updated her training page in a while, but my sister is less than two weeks away from her marathon and I think she’s just about ready. She’s run two half-marathons already in preparation. Recently she organized a phenomenally successful “bachelor auction” that put her within $1500 of her fundraising goal. If you haven’t donated – and you feel like doing a Christmas good deed – please consider sponsoring her. (You can donate money through her training page.) It’s all for cancer research. At the very least, please join me in being proud as hell of her. I can’t believe she’s gotten this far!
aim
December 3, 2003 — 6:43 am
Hey, thanks Kris! Actually, the auction put me way over my goal, so I split the proceeds with some of my teammates so they could meet their fundraising goals. (Haven’t updated my thermometer yet…sorry!)
Thanks for being so proud. I hope I can live up to everyone’s expectations, despite having not trained as hard these past few weeks. (And now a cold is dragging me down! Hopefully I’ll be over it by next Friday.)
Turns out I am now going to fuel my race with an unfortunate source of inspiration…one of my friends who “beat” lymphoma after a bone marrow transplant, has just been told that he has a year left to live. He’s 34. He had fought off the disease for a while, when the medication he was taking caused tumors to form on his tongue. Despite removing the tumors (and bits of his tongue in the process, making it difficult for him to speak) doctors say the cancer keeps coming back and is now spreading. Through all this, he has been so positive and funny that I can’t even comprehend how he does it. He behaves as if he’s immortal, which is how I guess you have to live when you’re faced with something like that. He chose his own cemetery plot this morning. He continues to look death square in the face every day and yet is capable of moving forward with his life at the same time. He and his wife have been married for 4 years, and I have no idea where she gets her strength. (I know I couldn’t handle it.) They’ve both remained active advocates and work hard to make state and national legislation more aware of all kinds of issues, from blood-cancers to tobacco control!
Anyway, sorry for the premature elegy, but I am just searching for ways to deal with this news. I am going to run like a crazy woman next Sunday, come blisters, come heatstroke, come dehydration….it’s all I know how to do now, beyond raising more money for this cause (which I will also continue to do.) Over and out.
Kris
December 3, 2003 — 4:12 pm
Wait… I thought it only took you up to like $3800. Did you reach the full $5000 already? That’s AWESOME! Well done.
rdh
December 4, 2003 — 2:47 am
Congrats Amy, not sure if I told you yet but I am very proud of you. Good luck with the marathon. Keep us updated.
aim
December 4, 2003 — 7:00 am
Thanks Dad! I was waitin’ to hear that. 🙂 (P.S. How did you like Dan?)
Umm….Kris, I raised about $6,300 single-handedly, from the letters I sent, to the magnets I made and sold, to the auction revenue. So I consider that reaching the $5,000 goal. However, the minimum to get to the event (with free travel, accomodations, etc.) was $3,800, so I spread around the extra to other teammates who needed it and helped with the event. Over 75% of what we raise goes to the cause; the other 25% goes toward expenses for participants in the events, race fees, etc. Pretty neat operation, huh?
rdh
December 5, 2003 — 1:13 am
Ok Aim since you asked, Dan seemed like a pretty nice guy, much better than Adam Givens, man that dude was evil looking, reminded me of the devil. 🙂