Thursday, November 20, Monthly Meeting, 6:30PM, Place--TBA
Saturday, November 22, Turkey Burner 5k, MetroFitness, 8AM
Group Runs:
Saturdays. Informal group runs at Blount Cultural Park. Group meets at 6:30AM near the restrooms and ticket office. There are several runners at various speeds.
Sundays. Informal group runs at Jefferson Davis High. Group meets at 6:30AM behind school in back parking lot. There are several runners at various speeds. 5 mile certified course.
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FOOTNOTES: from our September / October newsletter... I was 14 years old, and my dad, sister and I stood at the finish line of the Honolulu Marathon.
I don't remember what time we got there. All I know is that my dad dropped off my mom at the start of the race, came back to get us ready for church, and the three of us later returned to the race site when we thought we wouldn't have to wait too long for my mom to finish her first marathon.
We waited. And waited. And thought, "Did we miss her?"
My mom finished the marathon in 6 hours and whatever minutes. She developed a leg cramp at about mile 17 and limped her way in. Slowly.
When we saw her coming toward the finish line, we cheered, clapped loudly, and cheered some more -- and asked, "Where have you been?" as though she might have decided to attend a luau at some point. She ignored our question, and beamed with pride that she finished. To her, all that mattered was that she didn't give up.
That she crossed that finish line and completed what she started.
I'll never forget that.
On that day, she didn't know at cancer was spreading through her body.
A visit to a military doctor -- we were an Army family stationed at Fort Shafter in Hawaii -- a few months prior with concern over a lump under her arm resulted in the doctor telling her to not worry. No biopsy, only a reassuring tone that all was well.
So she moved on. Didn't worry. Finished her first marathon, and we soon moved back to the mainland.
She made another visit to another hospital. This time, at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. The lump wasn't gone. It was tested. And she found out she had cancer.
My family can play the what-if game the rest of our lives, but that would be a disservice to my mom. She never took the blaming route, choosing instead to take care of matters. She moved on. And had a breast removed.
She cooked dinner for her family. She took care of her family every day. Went into remission. Taught Korean schoolchildren when we were stationed in Seoul.
The cancer came back, and still she took necessary steps to make sure everyone else around her lived their life without interference.
She didn't stop. I'm not sure she knew how to.
She didn’t stop until the cancer took over for the last time in November 1988.
Beginning Sept. 20, I am running in five Susan G. Komen for the Cure races in honor, in memory, of my mom.
It's nothing compared to what she faced, but it's something I can do. I will run in Shreveport, La., Chattanooga, Tenn., Nashville, Tenn., Birmingham, and in Macon, Ga.
If possible, join me in Birmingham, or any other race.
I urge you to fight, to continue running, despite any pain. To, if possible, run through the pain and remember those before us who didn't have a choice but to fight … despite the odds against them.
