Join Joel in the Fight!

I was introduced to the Ulman Cancer Fund last year after my wife participated in the Aflac Iron Girl Las Vegas Triathlon. On February 26th, just two days after our 12th wedding anniversary, she was diagnosed with Stage 1 cervical cancer and learned more about UCF after the event. Upon returning home, she began 6 weeks of radiation therapy, rather than undergoing a hysterectomy. This allowed her to continue to train and even post a 6:10 in the Florida 70.3 at Disney in early May. To me, this was simply amazing. I had trained for months and pulled out a 5:50, and I didn’t have as much as a sniffle.

Over Memorial Day weekend, she spent 3 days sequestered in a hospital room for a healthy dose of localized radiation. That was a pretty miserable experience for her and I could see her for no more than 15 minutes per day. However, the session went well and she’s been in remission ever since.

It’s almost a year later and she’s competed in numerous events, including a few half marathons and the New York City Marathon last November. Now, in just 10 weeks, she’ll compete in her first Boston Marathon.

Later this year (09/09/09), I’ll turn 40 and as many people do when they get older, they do something crazy. I plan to run 40 miles . . . in one day. Along the way, I’d like to join Team Fight to raise awareness and money for The Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults as a way to say thanks, and to ensure UCF is there for us or others in the future. I’ve already got interest from many friends to run with me and to contribute to my selected charities. I believe that helping others is an important part of who we are.

For more information on the event, to be held in the Tampa Bay area on September, please visit www.4040run.com. At the site, you can sign up to run, to provide run day support and to make a contribution to UCF.

Thanks,
Joel