Will You Help Me Run Hood to Coast Again?

My uncle Danny and aunt Ginny

Raise your hand if you or someone in your life has been affected by cancer.

You should ALL be raising your hands right now! Sad, but true.

I started making a list of all of the family members that have dealt with cancer and it was rather scary when I started to see just how many people battled it. While some did lose that battle, happily some are still here with us, thanks in part to scientific research and medical advancements that have helped many people over the years. To put some names and faces to the reality of cancer in my family's life, here's a list that I have come up with so far:

• Danny - my uncle that I never met. My mom never even met her own brother. He passed away before he was 3 years old.
• Grandpa - you all know him! He dealt with skin cancer for many years, as did

Uncle Kenny and my Grandpa,
Kenny lost his battle with cancer the day I got married.

• My step-dad. He's got a pretty cool scar to show for it, but he won that battle!

• 

  Inez, my great grandma

  I also have a scar, but fortunately mine was from a surgery (Shawn teases me that it was just a procedure) to remove some pre-cancerous cells on my shoulder. You might notice you very rarely see me running in a tank top - and this is why. Gotta keep my skin covered!!
• My lovely aunt Ginny. Now this is one tough lady. Cancer tried to get her, and she did not let it win!!
• Two great-uncles and a great-aunt have passed away from cancer.
• My daughter never met her middle-name namesake, her great-great grandma. I never met her either. Thanks, cancer.
• Our little girl, sadly, also never got to meet her paternal grandma because of a hard fought battle that she lost a few years ago.
• My paternal grandma had such a short battle with cancer that by the time I learned she had it I never got a chance to talk to or see her again. 
• My step-dad has had two uncles lose a battle with cancer, while his mom was lucky and won hers.
• Even my first best friend from kindergarten passed away years ago from melanoma. We aren't old enough for that, dang it!
• Our family dog, Serena, even died from cancer.
  

  

Point is, Cancer IS everywhere.  

So.... Lady Storm Squad decided we really want to run Hood to Coast again in 2019, and we also figured why not do it by being a fundraising team and help raise money for cancer research. It certainly is a good cause when you see how many people deal with it in various forms. What do we runners get out of it? We get to run in the Mother of All Relays again, and we get to raise at least $12,000 (although I'm hoping for $20,000 - go big or go home!) for Providence Cancer Institute and hopefully help in the fight against cancer.

To get to our goal we need YOUR help! What do YOU get in return? Satisfaction of helping cancer research and treatment. You get the joy of helping us all run again so we can flood your social media timelines with photos, videos and stories. A HUGE thanks from me. And a tax deduction! (Plus the faster we reach our goal the faster I will shut up about it.)

If you'd like to help me start on my individual goal of $1,000 you can click the link below and it will take you to my personal fundraising site. I can't express how appreciative I would be of any amount. It all goes to a great cause!

Help Us Fight Cancer While Running!   <-- click here!