Day 3:The 5K
Your Pace or Mine. That was the phrase I heard for miles. My friend and fellow ambassador Elisabeth is a crafty genius. She created a giant candy heart costume to run in and was the highlight of the 5K. She had so many come up and ask to take pictures with her and brought so many smiles. Ambassador Krissy, the crazy pink swimsuit shark girl, also joined us on our run. There was a sea of pink and a wonderful costume contest filled with great costumes from a little sushi boy to the 1st place winner "hands free self breast exam" (somehow I don't have a pic of her sorry). Elisabeth and her candy heart got 2nd place in the contest!
We had a wonderful fun filled 3.1 miles. There was the warm up led by ex- Jacksonville Jaguar David Garrard and his trainers. The warm up was great but watching a giant heart try to attempt squats was hilarious. The race was great and my favorite part was running along the river area on the trail they had. I could see myself running here everyday. I am serious. I fell in love with the community of Jacksonville this weekend and the beautiful city and coastline they see each day only magnify this need to live there. We will see one day... :)
The pink was outta control and I loved it. It was awesome to see so many survivor bibs and hear about so many running a 5K for the first time. As soon as I crossed the finish line, I was grabbed by a reporter and interviewed for the news. It was great to share my love for the rallying of this community and my passion for ending cancer with the Florida news. Plus you know me, any reason to be on tv :)
You may wonder why I have a shirt on that says Chemo Princess. This shirt was given to me on one of MY chemo sessions and I wore it on one of my last chemo appointments with a Joe Dirt mullet wig just to make the Cancer Center gals here laugh and my mother so embarrassed. I did have to get my costume in a 50 lb suitcase so its definitely not as crazy cool, but for me it was like a big middle finger to the chemo chair I sat in only 5 years ago!!
Day 3 evening: Mayo Dinner
WOW....I left this dinner in tears. They were tears of joy, hope, and pride. I was so thankful to be a part of this trip but after this dinner I was thankful to be a part of CHANGING HISTORY!!! The Mayo Clinic is changing the face of cancer and changing history because of THIS RACE and a gal with a vision (Donna Deegan). We were fortunate enough to tour the lab where the research is being conducted and genes are being manipulated to create vaccines. There is a vaccine headed to trial to help with one of the most difficult types of cancers, triple negative breast cancer. I am in awe of how THIS race started THIS research off only 8 years ago. They are like NO other lab in the country because they work DIRECTLY with their patients and doctors across the street.
The Mayo Clinic is changing the game over the last few years and this will only spread the change into all other types of cancers and treatments. It really is mind blowing!!
You know I have to talk food too....yum yum yum! The food was all scientifically created with our big race in mind the next morning. It was delicious and the carb load needed to fuel up for the big day.
The research was amazing and hearing about the advancements that have been made but Michelle stole the show at the end of the night. Michelle is a cancer survivor and recipient of the Donna Foundation funds. The Donna Foundation donates to the Mayo for research, but the also help local women that are battling with various financial needs. This is so important for these women. They are battling cancer and the last thing they should be worrying about is trying to work more so they can pay bills. Michelle came up and told us a story of how she found out she had cancer. She was scheduled for a surgery Monday and received a heart breaking phone call on the Friday prior to surgery. They informed her that yes indeed she had cancer and needed the tumor removed in surgery, but they would NOT do the surgery unless her financial portion was covered prior to the surgery. Now imagine hearing you have a life threatening disease but then hearing they are going to leave it in you unless you come up with a large amount of money....unbelievable!! The story does not end here though because even in our darkest of moments there is ALWAYS that glimmer of hope. Michelle's glimmer of hope was the Donna Foundation. This was her Hail Mary pass to the end zone right here. She called the Donna Foundation on FRIDAY evening. Just as fate would have it the director was still there and to Michelle's delight answered the phone. She explained her story over the phone and heard a reassuring voice tell her not to worry. By MONDAY morning the Donna Foundation had helped Michelle get the surgery she needed and some other life expenses taken care of. There was not a dry eye in the house. It was not so much Michelle's amazing story of 'hope in the final hour' type of story that she had that made me cry. Michelle had and still has the most amazing attitude on life. I know from first hand experience that your attitude predicts your future happiness/success. I was so grateful afterwards to stick around and chat briefly with this amazing individual.
I will definitely be getting in touch with Michelle and sharing her live story on my future project....the How to find and create Happiness in your life PODCAST that I am working on......oops did I just reveal a HUGE secret to those of you reading this. :) Why yes I did but hey that's the pirk of you reading my blog...breaking news here first!!
At the close of Day 3 I am tired but thankful to God for this opportunity to be involved in this weekend and I have thanked him several times too! I can now with 100% certainty say that I MADE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD OF CANCER!
I am proud to be in this group and am beginning at this point to understand the "WHY" of the reason
I was picked for this race. It doesn't fully make sense until the end of the trip..................................... so stay tuned for Part 3 for the BIG RACE RECAP!!!! Coming soon
So excited for you podcasts! :)
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