7

Since I'm on this oddly-out-of place 12 days of Christmas thing that started well before it should have but has managed to almost work out, I'll make today 7 reasons I run.

1. For sanity.
2. For weight-management.
3. For long-term health.
4. For my kids, so I can be a good role model.
5. For stress relief.
6. Because I can.
7. For charity.

On that last one, I'll start training for the Dallas Rock 'N' Roll Half Marathon next week as part of the Susan G. Komen Marathon for the Cure program. I'm required to raise $250 for this particular event, which sounds so small compared to the $3000 I raised for the SGK 3-Day for the Cure this past year. I'd like to raise at least $500 though (or maybe more!).

I've got more about my journey here: http://www.info-komen.org/site/TR/MarathonfortheCure/MarathonFortheCure?px=8723068&pg=personal&fr_id=2052

But I've found another charity that I think I'd like to work with...TeamFox, a part of The Michael J. Fox Foundation, which raises funds for Parkinson's. I've long looked for an event to run in that benefitted Parkinson's research as a way of honoring my grandmother's memory, but I've never been able to find one. And then, by chance, I read about one runner's experience with TeamFox in the NYC Marathon after clicking on her comment on the www.runlikeamotherbook.com website.

It's amazing how things happen somedays. I didn't go out looking for this information...and actually had never found it when I did look. And here it is.

My grandmother was an amazing woman. She raised three kids on her own. Held the position of County Treasurer for many years. Supported her grandkids in everything we did. But those things do not tell her whole story.

She was my Gomie, a name I gave her when I was very little that just happened to stick. And she meant the world to me...and still does. She was this fantastic example of Christian love. Her battle with Parkinson's (which, for her, was actually a similar disease called Shy-Drager) was so difficult on her and her family. She had always been so independent, and this disease slowly took that away.

I could go on and on about my memories of her, but I won't. At least not now. I will say, however, that I would love to honor her memory by participating on TeamFox for a marathon. Someday.