i am officially running the 2018 chicago marathon. now, i definitely did not have the tradition entry to this race as initially i did not get into the race through the lottery system. but…when life gives you lemons, you make some lemonade. so, i decided to sign up through a charity organization, team bright pink to (1) follow through on my 2018 goal and (2) run for something bigger than all of us. running for a charity was something that i always wanted to do, and i figured this was the universe’s way of telling me that this was my opportunity.
so why team bright pink?
breast cancer awareness has been very close to my heart ever since I started college at the university of alabama. my head coach at the time, sarah patterson, had this inspiration to create the concept of a “think pink” gymnastics meet to spread the word and create the awareness that was needed for this cause. and while yes we still had to focus on the meet, that night was always something so much bigger than that. it was about celebrating these women who were the most incredible warriors. i always think back to those moments and realize (in hindsight) how they’ve made the biggest impact on my life.
i think we can all admit that cancer is a scary word and as i’ve gotten older, i’ve realized that prevention and early detection are so important – especially knowing that my great grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer. And I’ve also seen the importance of that through the eyes of my dear friend, karina. now, if you’ve seen some of my earlier blog posts, you would’ve seen that karina is the person who has inspired me to start this whole running thing to begin with – i literally signed up for my first half marathon as i was watching her run the 2015 chicago marathon. and my cheering buddy at that race was none other than her mom – who is currently fighting her second round of cancer. what i am so amazed by is her incredibly positive spirit and attitude towards the entire process. it’s through her journey that i’ve realized (again) how incredibly strong these women are and that cancer doesn’t discriminate.
i cannot wait to run for something that is bigger than all of us and be part of team bright pink! be sure to visit my fundraising page here and follow my journey to the chicago marathon right here on my blog.
kpmoments 