Houston Marathon: Round 2

It has been almost 2 years since my dear friend's son, Grant, experienced his first seizure and shortly after received a diagnosis of Epilepsy. It has been a learning experience not only for Grant but for the entire family. Grant's Gang started when I went to my friend (Jessica Watkins) and said "you wanna run Houston Marathon" and fund raise for epilepsy?"   Both charity runners already it seemed like the natural thing to do...Jessica needed to focus on something positive and I wanted to help her!  So there we were...Jessica, myself and Tony (Grant's grandfather) ran the  Houston Marathon in January 2013 and were the TOP FUNDRAISERS for the Epilepsy Foundation.  

This year more of our friends are joining Grant's Gang. Please welcome Robin Strong, Will Bacon, Andy Rose, Serene Simmons, Talya Sapienza, and Frank Payne! We are excited to have them training and running along side us. Granted it is nothing new...we are all long time TNT friends and you've probably seen their names mentioned in many of the previous posts on this blog.

Current statistics show that roughly 500 patients are diagnosed EVERY DAY with some form of epilepsy - 30% of those are children.  In addition to providing medical care, education, and therapy to epilepsy patients in Texas, The Epilepsy Foundation provides the largest residential epilepsy camping experience in the country! 


Grant attended The Epilepsy Foundation's Camp Spike N Wave last summer and will attend Camp Neuron this summer. It changed his entire perspective on his diagnosis Jessica said.  He was able to spend a week with kids just like him. Never having to be worried or embarassed that he might have a seizure. It was life changing! Jessica promised that moment that she would give back to the organization that has given so much to her son. 


Please consider a tax deductible donation today in honor of Grant. You may click on the donation link or the image on the right side under "DONATE".  Any amount will help us reach our goal and hopefully exceed it. We want to be the top fundraisers again!  

With love and gratitude!

Grant's Gang
Jessica Watkins, Dianna & Will Bacon, Robin Strong, Serene Simmons, Andy Rose, Talya Sapienza, Frank Payne and Tony Collins

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#werunDC

This is LONG overdue - as in almost 2 months but we did it...we ran DC on Sunday, April 28, 2014.  It was a weekend full of emotions - lots of laughter and a few tears were shed along the way.

This was Will's first season as a coach for Team in Training.  Half our team participated in Rock & Roll Dallas Half marathon in March and the other half came to DC with us.  Of course there was tons of sight seeing - we have so many photos I can't post them all so I'll just stick with one of my favorites : )

Jessica and I ran the entire race together...and had #selfiesunday at every major monument along the course. But our favorite photo was by the Cherry Blossoms because it was the one photo Grant asked his mom to take : )

For LLS, the Nike Women’s Marathon Series attracted more than 44,000 participants in Team In Training (TNT), which is the flagship fundraising campaign that is celebrating 25 years as the original charity sports training program. TNT trained 1,500 runners this year for the D.C. race.  It was a SEA OF PURPLE to say the least.  We were proud to be a part of it...and even more proud to wear our Tiffany necklace.  The Nike DC race series gives a Tiffany necklace instead of a traditional race medal.

But the BEST part of the weekend was being there to celebrate Team Lainey.  Lainey was diagnosed on August 28, 2013 with leukemia and has undergone the last eight months of treatment...but still has roughly 18 months until treatment is complete.  However, two weeks before this event, Kelly (Lainey's mom) was diagnosed with breast cancer.   Kelly was surrounded by six of her dearest friends who also fundraised and ran the race.  

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Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness #bostonstrong

Today was the much anticipated 118th Boston Marathon following the tragic events of last year's bombing.  The marathon is always run on Patriot's day which marks the first bloodshed of the Civil War in America.  These are things I didn't know until about four years ago when I started running...BUT you don't have to be a runner to understand how important today was for the City of Boston or the running community -- simply put if you believe in the freedoms granted to the citizens of the United States of America -- today was an important day!

As I anxiously watched the marathon (while explaining some of the history to my students)....the Pledge of Allegiance came to mind which then led me to the second line of the Declaration of Independence:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

It is easy in today's world to see all the negativity that surrounds us...just turn on the local news or the world news...it is filled with so much crime against humanity.

April 15, 2013, was no different...tragedy had struck USA soil again.

Why?  That is what many of us asked a year ago as we watched the aftermath of the Boston bombings...three dead and injuring an estimated 260 individuals....lives forever changed.  Senseless tragedy!

I can't pretend or understand to know the answer to that question...I don't think anyone does.  But what I saw today as Meb Keflezighi, the first USA male to win the Boston Marathon since 1983, crossed the finish line was just that...."Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness."

To have an American win the Boston Marathon following last year spoke volumes to me!

Boston is #bostonstrong 

Like many friends of mine, I follow several survivors of April 15.  How can you not? Their stories are an incredible amount of inspiration and hope.  It is proof that good prevails over evil.

Two particular survivors came to mind as I thought about what Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness means to me on this day:

Life - the period of time a person is alive; also, the experience of being alive.

Jane Richard.  Jane is the younger sister of Martin, the eight year old boy who was killed in the bombing.  Jane, her older brother and both parents survived that day.  This photo was posted exactly one month ago on the Richard family blog page when Jane received her new "cheetah" running leg.  In her parents words, "There is much activity in our lives these days, which goes a long way toward distracting us from what is certain to be an emotional one-year anniversary on April 15.  A day doesn’t pass when we don’t cry over the loss of Martin, but we also laugh when we think about him, which feels like the right way to remember a little boy with a zest for life and a caring heart."

Liberty - the state or condition of people who are able to act and speak freely; the power to do as one please; freedom from physical restraint. 

Adrianne Haslet-Davis. As I said, I follow several of the survivors; however, I didn't learn about Adrianne until earlier this month when I read this article and started seeing her name come up in several news stories with the marathon approaching.  She has spoken out publicly that Tsarnaev should receive the death penalty for his crimes.  Adrianne, by profession, is a ballroom dancer.   She has had a rather strong and rapid recovery and as you can see if already dancing again!  She is quoted saying, "I'm not suffering.  I'm thriving."  

Pursuit of Happiness - right to freely pursue joy and live life in a way that makes one happy without violating the law or rights of others

Meb Keflezighi is an American long distance runner and graduated from UCLA where he won four NCAA championships in track & field.  He is the 2004 Olympic Silver Medalist in the Marathon and finished in 4th place in the 2012 Summer Olympics. He won the 2009 New York City Marathon on November 1, 2009 and as of today the winner of the 118th Boston Marathon in a time of 2:08:37.

Meb is quoted in today's post-marathon interview saying "The crowd was phenomenal. I used them and they used me. The energy was just phenomenal. Toward the end I was remembering the victims who passed away. I said to myself 'I'm going to use the energy to win, just like the Red Sox did.'" 

And he did WIN...for Boston, for the USA and for himself...his time was 31 seconds faster than his personal best.  

“It was not about me,” said Keflezighi. “It was about Boston Strong.”

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