A Miracle for Sam

Running is a lot of things to me: my alone time, my de-stress time, my anti-depressant, my sanity saver. These are just a few reasons why I continue to run. I guess it started with a desire to get fit or be healthy after the birth of my twins 7 years ago. I had been going for walks throughout the pregnancy, but after their birth I was looking for something with more rapid results. So one day while I was out for a walk I ran to the end of the block. After I had stopped huffing and puffing I ran another equally short distance then walked some more. I was tired and suffered severe shin splints, but by the end of the week I was running more and walking less. It felt great and I new I was on to something.

Although running alone had toned me up and I was feeling great, both psychologically and physically, I had not yet felt the rush of competition. Competition with myself had not yet happened as I was too new to push myself and didn't know anything about speedwork. But when I met my daughter's kindergarten teacher, an avid runner, she encouraged me and my husband to sign up for a fun run as a family. Little did I know that this two mile fun run would bring out the competitive drive in both myself and my husband. From there we signed up for our first 5K and before long we were doing a race just about every other weekend until we had to cut back due to finances.

Had we stopped with the 5Ks and 10Ks things might have different. But just as we were burning with the desire to get faster, here comes the quest for going further and proving ourselves.From a half marathon to our first full marathon and then we were bitten by the marathon bug. There is something about the sense of accomplishment after having ran 26.2 miles when every muscle in your body is screaming for you to stop, and knowing that you pushed past that and made it that I cannot fully describe. That is only the first marathon, however,but from the second and every one after it is not good enough just to complete the distance, now you have to beat the time of your last one hereby creating your own personal record or PR. But it doesn't end there for some of us. If you have ever even dreamed about running the Boston marathon then you know that you have to make a qualifying time and that becomes the next goal to chase down.

It has been seven years since I first started running and I am still have yet to qualify for Boston or even be satisfied with my time. I have been forced to take time off due to injury last year, but thankfully I am fully recovered and back at it again. My husband and I will be running the San Francisco Marathon in July, but this time the meaning transcends the shallow motivation of qualifying times, personal records, or a finisher's medal.

Some 6 year old boys wish for a new bike, others wish for video game, transformer toy, or other new toy that they just have to have. But some, like my friend Sam, just wishes for more birthdays. To be able to run and play sports, ride a bike without having to look forward to a wheelchair in later years. Sam has Duchenne's Disease, a rare form of Muscular Dystrophy that is 100% fatal. Without a miracle, Sam will need a wheelchair in a few years, and his muscles will continue to get weaker. Life expectancy rarely goes beyond the teen years for these boys.:

I came to know Sam and his brother Zach, a couple of years ago, when I became friends with his sweet mom after meeting her at church. We exchanged babysitting and I had the pleasure of having Sam and Zach stay with us one weekend. A bond was formed and at that time he had not yet been diagnosed. It has been almost a year since we were told the terrible news and I still cannot accept it. This is why I decided that this Marathon is not going to be about me this time. I will stop at nothing to help find a cure for Sam. My husband and I have signed on with the Parent Project Run for our Sons to raise money for a cure for Duchenne's. If you would like to sponsor us, please click on the link below:

http://www.parentprojectmd.org/site/TR/Events/Content-MarathonLong-Store?px=1495036&pg=personal&fr_id=1380

Please helps us find a miracle for Sam. Thank you.