One of the truly great things one experiences through doing Team in Training is the amazing people that you meet and become friends with. Two of these for me are Holly and Amanda, who I met in 2005 training for my first event. I was doing the Anchorage Marathon and they were doing the San Diego Marathon. These two friends were so close and always together, so we just referred to them as "HollyandAmanda". You never saw one without the other. Still don't!
Holly is the mom of one of my patient honorees, Emma, who developed leukemia as a 10 week old. That is a separate, but also an amazing, story but the bottom line is that Emma is now an 8 year old!
A little while ago, I got an email from Holly about a simply amazing thing that she and Amanda had done - the JFK 50 miler. This distance is nearly 2 marathons, all in one day, and part of it along the Appalacian Trail. With Holly's permission, I have posted her account here.
Warning - reading this account is likely to cause a feeling of being inspired and amazed, and could result in a few tears. I am grateful to know people like "HollyandAmanda".
Continue to Holly's pre-race write-up.
The Group Hike That Kind of Wasn't
4 years ago
5 comments:
Hey Art.
Oh my gosh what a wonderful story! Your right i needed my tissues to finish up reading.
But how awesome that is to know the reason why they did it!
I wanted to tell you I am so glad to hear your putting in more miles and feeling better as well.
Do me a favor write my name on a piece of paper when the racing gets grueling think of me. Remember our fight back. Remember one other thing its role models like you and others who never get the regonition that's deserved. What I'm looking for in life is to know good hearted people who have the believe system to fight for the needs of others like us. That to me is priceless.
I spend lots of time in an online chat helping others with cancer and hear people say no one cares. I tell them I do and know others who do that our fighting for us. I also hear story after story and I continue to listen. Once you have been there you know how it is no going back just forward as a survivor who carries it with them the need to help others.
So that said...I just wanted you to know I love your blog and visit here. They make me realize that last year when I decided to walk the walk last year with a cast..I to did the right thing for myself and many others out there. I would do it in a heartbeat again.
Just know I am behind you to 1000%
in what you do..As always i wish I would win that huge lotto...cause I know right where it would end up!
Have a great day.
Kerry
Thank you for your nice comments! It is very important to look at life with a little bit of humor. If you can't laugh at yourself then things could get quite boring! I love your blog. Very inspirational!
Oh, P.S., I did see the Whale Shark! Awesome! My fav were the Beluga Whales. So beautiful and majestic! We had a wonderful time, especially with family! Take care!!
Kerry - email me your full name and I will do better than that - I will write it on my race shirt! Thanks for your very kind comment. I am glad that you are enjoying my blog.
People do care, Kerry. Maybe not everyone in the world, but many. Most of the people I meet at TNT have no direct connection to blood cancers, but they sacrifice their time and energy to try to make a difference. Keep telling your friends that - because it is important to know. Every Saturday morning, while most are sleeping in or having that second cup of coffee, thousands of people across the USA and Canada are showing up to do TNT - cold, rain, hot, you name it. People definitely care, as you know.
Thanks again for visiting and for reading my blog. Keep coming back!
Art
Hey Holly - thanks for stopping by and commenting. I am glad that you are enjoying my blog.
You are right about humor. Too many take things way too seriously. I needed a lot of humor to get through chemotherapy, I will tell you that!
I'm enjoying your blog, too. Check out my post on "Beyond Boobs", you might enjoy that as a complement to what you wrote.
Glad the trip was great. I have not been to the Atlanta Acquarium but hear it is great and that the whale shark is amazing. Belugas always look like they are smiling.
Art
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