06 October 2014

DONNA Ambassador - finish Breast Cancer with me!

I am so honored to be one of the chosen ambassadors for the 26.2 with Donna the National Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer.  I'm still debating whether I'll run 13.1 or 26.2 - waiting to hear about a couple other possible marathons in that same time frame and don't want to over do it.  But I am also looking forward to riding 52.4 miles for the DONNA bike next month, hopefully with my dad and brother.

As it is October (where has this year gone!) already, it's time to pull out all the pink and start focusing on breast cancer.  At least that's what they tell us.  I read a great blog post this morning from my friend Megan at elbowglitter about where we should really be focusing our efforts.  Take a moment to go read it and let her know that you think she's AWESOME!

She's right though - October shouldn't just be about raising awareness or telling the positive stories.  Fighting cancer is TOUGH.  There's nothing pretty about mastectomies and full hysterectomies.  And the face of breast cancer isn't just women - this is a disease that effects men too, albeit in much smaller percentages.  But I know a man battling breast cancer for the second time - and it's spread beyond just the breast tissue.  My aunt is a survivor.  Cancer in general is so prevalent in our society and it's scary.  My own family history led me to take the BRCA-1 gene test to find out my genetic pre-disposition for the disease.  Luckily it came back negative.  But that doesn't mean I'm free and clear from ever developing cancer.

And that's why, for the second year in a row, I am supporting DONNA.  Last year I raised $500 for the cause, and my goal this year as an ambassador is to double that support.  Why did I choose DONNA?  Sure, my first reason was "I know people" but really - when you learn about DONNA, this is the only breast cancer race to fully donate it's proceeds to cancer research and support women receiving treatment.  The research being done at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville is leading the field to finish breast cancer.  Dr. Perez and her team are doing some amazing things, and being able to support their research is truly an important way to help lead to unlocking the key to finishing all kinds of cancer.

I hope that you will consider supporting my efforts this year - not for me, but for the people fighting cancer on all fronts.  Men and women of all ages, affected by this horrible disease that is eating at their lives.  I want to run and bike with DONNA this year to finish breast cancer and support the amazing work of this great cause.  Will you join me?

To donate, please visit my page.