Warning: this blog post contains a TON of pictures! We had so much support for this race and all of the emotions behind it that I just have a ton of pictures to share with you all!
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| For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. - Romans 8:18 |
On Saturday, July 13th, over 40 family members and friends joined us and 2,200 other people effected by sarcoma for the 3rd annual Pittsburgh Cure Sarcoma 5K walk/run. Together we raised $141,000 for sarcoma research and over $5,000 of that total was from the Great Lakers!
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| 3 years of t-shirts are represented in this picture! |
Beth and I arrived (after finally finding our way through a construction detour - go figure) to set up our team tent. It was wonderful to see more and more people we knew join us in a fight against this awful disease.
The little guy finally decided to wake up to join us for the race! Rumor has it he ate to run!
We had family and friends join us from all over!
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| Erich, Michelle, and Grace drove in late the night before! |
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| Cece came too!! |
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| Jenny's friends from graduate school joined us! |
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| Many members of our church family joined us. I love them! |
Beth's roommate from Arizona just happened to be from Pittsburgh and had decided to spend the summer with her family in PA! Her mom, sisters, and she gave up their Saturday morning to run in memory of Laura and Aaron!
An intense game of catch broke out while we waited for the race events to begin. We also attempt to get a "Great Lakers kids" picture which was interesting...
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| Bobba and Grammy, you better watch out! You are playing against some pros here! |
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| Ages range from 8 weeks to 8 years old. Given the circumstances, this is an excellent picture! |
As much as I wish I had never heard of sarcoma, it has brought some wonderful people in to my life.
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| Sarah, Grace, Ben, and me before the race. Grace's daddy just hit the 5 year cancer free mark in November!!! |
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| Bill is the race director and a cancer warrior for 6 years. His wife, Sue, would find me each time we went in to Hillman Cancer Center to check in on me and Bill still volunteers on the oncology floor of the hospital. |
Each team was asked to supply a raffle basket for the race. Naturally, we went with a Pure Michigan theme. Even the basket was purchased a Meijer! I was tempted to put a ticket in for my own basket!
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| Love from Michigan |
The pre-race events were the most difficult for me. Bill began by welcoming everyone and thanking them from coming. He then proceeded to read the names of the many people involved with the Pittsburgh Cure Sarcoma committee who had passed away since the previous race. One of the founding members, Carl, passed away only a week before the race. He was another sweet, familiar face at Hillman, always with a smile. Then he read Aaron's name - Aaron Moeller.
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| Sarcoma is called a rare disease... |
Each family who had lost someone that year was invited to come forward and receive a white rose in their memory. I sobbed. Putting Aaron's picture on the memory board and walking up to get that rose were really emotional for me. It was another reminder that he is not here; that cancer has changed our lives.
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| Ben carried "Daddy's flower" for the entire walk |
After the memorial ceremony, I was tired and drained but was really really angry at cancer. It is such a painful disease for those diagnosed and their loved ones. I was ready to run it into the ground with 2,200 other people who were also mad at cancer.
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| Getting ready to start! |
And off we went! Erich finished first for our group. This picture is only another reminder as to why I love/hate him as a runner! He finished with a stellar time despite the heat!
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| Quit messing around and run! |
I am not a pretty runner, especially toward the end of the race!
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| We passed this guy on a hill. Boom! |
It was powerful to see all of the participants and volunteers stretched out across the 3.1 mile course.
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| Beth! |
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| Check out our big group of walkers and "stroller gang" to the right! |
They even had a kids' fun run and each child got a medal! Ben wore his medal for the rest of the day!
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| "Mamma, CB and I will go easy on you since you just got done running." |
After the race, we were able to hear about how the funds raised through the race are being used as well as estimates on the number of participants and how much money was raised. First, we heard from Dr. Kurt Weiss, who is a sarcoma survivor, surgeon, and researcher. He is passionate about what he does and an inspiration!
Next, we heard from Dr. Hussein Tawbi, Aaron's oncologist. He was visibly hurting as he repeated the names of all those involved with PCS who had passed away this year, most of them since the fall. That is one of the many reasons Aaron and I liked Dr. Tawbi. He was not just a doctor. He did not just want to get a quota of patients through the door. He cared about you and your family and how you wanted to live your life. He listened. He really sees each of his patients as a member of his family and that makes him a really great doctor.
We also heard from a researcher from St. Louis who heard about the race, the largest sarcoma fundraising event in the country, and decided to come up to see what it was about. They are doing some really exciting stuff looking at biomarkers found only in sarcoma cells as a way to starve just the cancer cells without the horrible side effects of toxic treatments, like chemotherapy.
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| So true. |
As we do every year, we took a PCS committee picture and a sarcoma survivor picture. There were a lot of faces missing from both but also new faces. Please continue to pray for the work of this committee, which is year round, the health of those with cancer and those in remission, and that God would bless the research going on around the country.
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| Pittsburgh Cure Sarcoma Committee |
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| Sarcoma survivors and warriors |
I want to thank our parents. As hard as these last 6 months have been for Benjamin and me, it has also been painful, confusing, depressing, surprising, and difficult for them as well. My parents have had their daily lives completely invades by a 2 1/2 year old and a stay-at-home mom. Aaron parents continue to miss their darling boy while choosing to focus on the blessing God had given in allowing them to be Aaron's parents. My dad and step-mom miss the energetic debater and food guru who always came with a hungry stomach and ready to clean out their homemade canned goodies. Their support, prayers, listening ears, encouragement, and love have meant so much to me as I navigate through this unknown time. It is such a blessing to know that when I fall, I have a soft place to land.
As I mentioned, we had over 40 family members and friends join us in the park for the race, but our team, The Great Lakers, were over 112 strong spanning across the country! It was a joy to have my inbox flooded, text messages pouring in, and see many pictures on Facebook as team pictures flowed in! Thank you!
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| Christina and Kaylee in Mississippi |
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| Judy in Michigan |
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| Ron in the sky of Wisconsin |
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| Laura in Michigan |
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| Amy in Michigan |
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| Bethany in Arizona |
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| My dad, Jim, in California |
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| Grandma and Grandpa in Wisconsin |
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| Gigi and Gpa in Michigan |
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| Robin and Ray in Pennsylvania |
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| Rachael in Illinois |
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| Amy and Melissa (and baby!) in Michigan |
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| Kathy in Michigan |
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| Lynn in Michigan |
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| Ryan in Florida |
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| Katelyn, Judy (sponsor Meant to Bead owner), and Rob in Wisconsin |
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| Carrie, Ron, and Hayley in Wisconsin |
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| Matt in Michigan |
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| Carla in Michigan |
Wow! How cool!!! Well, with 112 shirts we raised over $1,200 in addition to the nearly $4,000 that was raised through online donations! That brings the 13 in 2013 current total to (drum roll, please!)
$8,187.03!!!! That is incredible! Thank you to all those who have donated, prayed, run, and shared these stories! You are making a difference.
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