Sheri - Back from the Brink

Back in early 2007,after adopting an energetic shelter dog who needed exercise, I decided to make a change in my life and joined Weight Watchers to get healthy and back to amore attractive weight.  I started running as just a part of my overall weight loss plan, but I found out that I?m a runner!  I've been running ever since I completed the Couch to 5K training program in June of 2007. I was successful at losing theweight that I wanted to, and I've kept it off so far, but running has become apart of who I am (wife, mother, daughter, runner).

Not too terribly long after I reached my goal weight, and then ran my first half marathon (13.1 miles), my dad, Steve, was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma.  This is a cancer of the blood plasma, and it was first discovered in my dad because it was found that he had a brain tumor that had to be urgently removed.  At the same time, he had another tumor that severely impacted his hip, creating much pain and taking away his mobility.  Fortunately, he came through the surgery very well, and radiation treatment cleared up the hip pain entirely.  He has gone on to have other significant treatment and a relapse, so the story continues, and his struggles with this disease continue to be an inspiration to all as he maintains his spirits and vitality.

Being a member of the running community has given me the opportunity to unite two areas of my life in an especially meaningful way. I can run a challenging race on an inspiring course, and work to raise funds for a most worthy cause that is very close to my heart because of how a terrible disease has affected my family.  I'vechosen to run this year's Big SurHalf Marathon in Monterey on November 15 as a charity run for the Multiple Myeloma Research Fund.  In this small way I can feel like I'm doingsomething to try to make this disease more bearable for my dad and other patients like him.

The mission of the MMRF is to urgently and aggressively fund research that will lead to the development of new treatments for multiple myeloma. Asthe world's number-one funder of multiple myeloma research, the MMRF has raisedmore than $120 million to fund 90 laboratories worldwide.  They are a top rated charity, funneling more than 93% of donations to research and related programs.

I hope that you can join me in supporting this excellent cause.  I have raised almost $350 toward my goal of $1,500 by race day.  I have my own donation website so it is easy to make a tax-deductible donation online. I've gotten things started by donating $10 for every mile that I'll race, but you can give as much or as little as you like, every $1 counts!

You can follow my training day by day on the dailymile.com where I will regale you with all my triumphs and struggles (and lots of sweat)as I train to get faster and stronger.  I am challenging myself to finish this race in under 2 hours.  This is by no means even close to a fast time for runners more experienced than I, but it is significantly faster than I've run before, so I have been training very hard since July to achieve it.  And if you happen to be in the Monterey area on November 15, I can use all the cheerleaders that I can get.