North Face Endurance Challenge - Race Wrap-Up

50 miles (and 1K) later, Ryan and Katelyn have great accomplishments under their belts and raised over $1500 for blood cancer research and patient services. In the early days of my disease the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society helped my family and me learn about AML and how to navigate the treatment process. Knowledge made my family feel more in control during the tumultous period. Thank you to all those who are helping us further LLS's critical work.

Since there were no sports commentators present at the race, I did my best:

At the finish line festival, while Katelyn and I waited for Ryan to appear from the woods

Shelley: Do you see Daddy yet?
Katelyn: No, he's late to the finish line.

Shelley: Do you think he's close?
Katelyn: No, he's probably still on the other mountain, way over there.

After Katelyn's 1k Karno Kid's Race

Shelley: Where did we run for your race?
Katelyn: Up a mountain. We walked.

Shelley: Who did you see during your race?
Katelyn: Light Buzzyear. I hugged Elmo, but not Big Bird. He was taking pictures with other children. A man took my picture at the finish line.

When we met Ryan for his final 500 yards along the trail

Shelley: How do you feel?
Ryan: [silence]

Shelley: How would you describe the race?
Ryan: Masochistic

Shelley: What did you think about during the past 13 hours?
Ryan: You, and how this is nothing compared to what you went through.
Shelley: [All choked up] Very sweet, but I'm not sure I agree.

Race Day Pics

Katelyn running to give Ryan a hug, half a mile from the end of the 50 mile course.  

Race Day

This morning, Ryan left at 3:50AM for the 5:00AM start to the 50 mile endurance challenge.
Katelyn and I are about to leave to watch him cross the finish line and to enjoy the festival.

While perusing the event site website, we noticed there is a Karna Kids 1K run at 4:00PM. After watching the promotional video, Katelyn decided she's in. All morning, she's been practicing her track start, and she's now wearing her fast shoes and her fundraiser T-shirt.

Good luck to Ryan in his last miles, and to Katelyn at 4PM! And thank you so much to those who made a donation to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society!

Donate to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society: Team Life's a Beach

50 Miles for 50 Days

One year ago, on May 5^th, 2011, we cheered my wife's accomplishment of pushing herself to walk 14 laps around the nurse's station outside her hospital room. Nine days later, she came home to us. On May 5th, 2012, I plan to push myself in her honor.

Shelley's story started with a routine, 20 week ultrasound for our daughter, Lily.  The checkup kicked off a series of events that led to her diagnosis of and treatment for acute myelogenous leukemia (AML).  The grueling hospital stay entailed chemotherapy, blood transfusions, hundreds of needle pricks, fevers, mouth sores, and intense nausea.  That’s the short list.  The only time she left her room for an extended period of time was to spend Easter Weekend in the Intensive Care Unit to battle bleeding in her lungs and a blood clot in her liver. 

We said goodbye to Lily during that time. 

Nearly 50 days passed between the ultrasound and her departure from the hospital.  During this time, Shelley endured each blood and platelet transfusion, needle prick, and treatment protocol with the steady calm of a person looking beyond the hospital bed and the oncology floor with the thought, “I will get through this.”  Maybe her attitude came from the years of mental and physical conditioning for competitive swimming.  Maybe it was a combination of her inherent character and the invisible hand of her parents that taught her to never give up.  Likely, a combination of many factors built her deep resolve. 

Her fight during her hospital stay--and now during her maintenance treatments--is inspirational. 

On May 5^th, nearly one year from my wife's departure from the hospital, I will participate in the 50 Mile Northface Endurance Challenge ultramarathon at Bear Mountain, NY, to both raise awareness for Leukemia and raise money for research.

50 miles: nearly one mile for each day before Shelley achieved remission status.

May 5^th: nearly one year from the day she left the hospital. 

Although the race is called an “endurance challenge,” the endurance required to complete the distance is immeasurably small when compared to the endurance of body and spirit my wife exhibited during that time and the treatments since.

She is why I wear orange.

To donate to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society through Shelley’s Light the Night event Life's a BeachTeam Page: Shelley's Light The Night Team Page

To learn more about the 50 mile race: North Face Endurance Challenge Ultramarathon