16 Days to Go!

Today as I was standing in line to purchase a Gatorade following one of my last long training runs, I heard someone behind me ask if I was running the marathon for the Dana-Farber team.  Before I could respond with anything further than a "yes", she shook my hand and held it while telling me "I can't thank you all enough for what you do.  I was treated at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute last year and they saved my life."  Taken aback by the gratefulness of this woman, I realized that this run and money raised to support the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute truly do reach out to more people than can be imagined.  The woman continued to tell me her story of her battle with breast cancer and how she has been cancer free for 6 months now.  She pulled out a picture of her grandson and bragged to me about him taking his first steps just a few weeks ago and how blessed she was to be here today to experience it.  She asked for my bib number so that she could follow me on race day and cheer me on.  It brought tears to my eyes to hear her story and I am so honored to be able to run proudly wearing the Dana-Farber logo on Marathon Monday.  Every donation truly does make a difference in someone's life- we just may not always hear about it.  I am blessed to have been able to hear the story of someone directly affected in a positive way by the organization I am running for and have extra motivation knowing that she is cheering me on every step of the way in 2 weeks.  

On the fundraising front: we have reached $3,200 in donations!  Thank you all for being so generous and donating to such a worthy cause!  I definitely think we can get to at least $4,000 by race day on April 15.  I am grateful to have the support of all of you!!  Together we are making a large impact in fighting the battle against all types of cancer.

My training has been going well.  Last weekend I ran 22 miles and have begun to taper off until race day (2 weeks from Monday!).  Today I put in 16 miles and was able to run in shorts as the weather is in the mid 50's!  I am definitely excited about the warmer weather coming around.  :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter weekend and is able to spend it with family and friends!  Stay tuned for more frequent updates as Marathon Monday approaches!!

-S