Truer words were never spoken. Just the fact of accomplishing to KNOW YOU CAN do it is the reward. ANd it is worth every step!

This weekend I took part in a marathon relay. Those of you that know me well know I can not run due to spinal instability. So there was no point in me competing with professional marathoners. But anyone that does know me know I am a competitive person. Tell me I can’t do something and it will always be my pleasure to prove to you that I can. Up to a point. Before I said I would do this I thought of why I wanted to do it. I thought of why I had gotten healthy again, why I had lost all my excess weight and why I continue to monitor it.

I had 2 “legs” of the relay to complete; a 2 mile one and a 5 mile one. I did the 2 mile Friday in good time. Today I did the 5 mile one with much more difficulty. It is raining here and my muscles don’t do well in rain. I could feel the muscles start to cramp at about the 3.5 mark but I’m not a quitter either.

I reminded myself of why I was doing this. I saw my sister’s face in my mind and I knew why I was going to finish this leg no matter if I landed on my face. These are the reasons I walked today in this marathon relay:

For my sister Adele who died of colon cancer at the age of 46
For my dad Roland who died of prostate cancer at the age of 59
For my aunts:
Lucy of breast cancer at 51
Winni of breast cancer also at age 51
Irene of breast cancer at 63
Cecile of brain tumour at age 43

For my uncle Paul who died of prostate cancer at 76
My grandfathers:
Benoit who died of liver cancer of age 74
Albert who died of prostate cancer at 88 years

For my cousin Curtis who died of leukemia at the age of 4
For my cousin Donald whose wife was just diagnosed with breast cancer

Today I walked for my children Douglas Kim Mary Eugene Lareta Curt Jody and Linda
Today I walked for my grandchildren, Terry Senthia Britnee Dallas Latitia Sinead Darien Regan Amber Rosaleen Miranda and Aisling.
Today and every day come rain or shine I walk for Keith and for our eternal family. I am determined to not give in to this disease that has caused so much grief in my family. I will continue to do what I must to make sure I remain as healthy as possible.

I could feel my sister with me as I finished my last steps gasping for air as my lungs felt like I was inhaling sand paper. I had a friend earlier this week ask me why on earth would I want to do this when there were no prizes no TADA’s with thousands of spectators cheering you on to victory.. what was the point. There was a point. I smiled as the vision of my sister left me… there was a point.

1. 4.5 mi, 01:52:00
2. 2 mi, 00:24:00
3. 3 mi, 00:42:18
4. 1.5 mi, combined with above
5. 2.5 mi, 00:24:42
6. 1.5 mi, 00:52:00
7. 3.5 mi, combined with above
8. 0.7 mi, 00:46:00
9. 2 mi, combined with above
10. 5 mi, 01:12:00

Our total time was 06:13:00. Thanks everyone for doing this. Nowhere near Haile Gebrselassie’s world-record time of 2:04:26, but he wasn’t walking and I bet he doesn’t have photos from his run as nice as the oens from my walk. :)

I’ll report our time, and see how we did compared to everyone else.

Now I gotta add it all up.

This reminds me I also need to report my September home teaching.

And my speed yesterday was between 6 and 7.5 miles an hour, so middling speed.

How the winner will be decided was pretty vague. I don’t know if it who has the longest time overall, or if it’s decided by leg.