A CANCER STORY

Survivor: Jackie Evens. Victims: James White, Lori Grist, Willodean P. Plummer, Aaron Bonner, Kiera C. Smith, William Senkbeil

So many of you may know that this Sunday October 2^nd I will be competing in my first half Ironman distance Triathlon. I am incredibly nervous and excited. Secretly I am happy for it to be over so I can get back to normal life. The training has been really intense and I have shed many tears and plenty of sweat. Most of you have probably seen my tweets about my workouts and how I am feeling. Most of the time I am in disbelief about what I tweet. Suffice it to say it has truly been an experience.

However this post goes beyond the 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run that I will be completing. Beyond my own personal reasons for wanting to achieve this milestone I am doing this to raise money for cancer. The task that I have in front of me is so large that I couldn't imagine just completing it as another notch in my fitness belt. I wanted it to mean something much more.

It seems these days that cancer is all around us, we all know someone that has cancer or has had cancer. It is the biggest epidemic of our lifetime. Cancer does not discriminate when it comes to age, race, sex or background. And now-a-days it seems that even living a healthy lifestyle does not matter. I have had no personal bouts with the disease but I wanted to do something to show people that I recognize their struggle. Many times in life we don't care about something until it happens to us. However, through raising money for this triathlon and seeing people's reactions when I tell them what I am doing I know people care.

Cancer is not just about the patients either. Through working with LLS I have realized that the families really carry the weight of the burden as well. I am still $1000 away from my goal with 2 days left, but I trust that the people around me will donate even people I don't know. You can click here to donate.

So on October 2^nd I will not just represent myself as a triathlete I will represent all of you who have donated and all of the patients, victims and survivors. We will all be IRONMEN that day. Thank you.

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