Thanksgiving

A Good Thanksgiving

Let me start by saying ‘I lied!’ in my first blog! I said that comments would not relate to my own training progress. But this one is a little different. What happened yesterday truly does make it ‘a good Thanksgiving’ for me in a very personal and selfish way. At the same time that I write about my own good fortune in this instance, I am very much aware of so many other things for which I am thankful, beginning with family.

First, a bit of history. Ironically, on the day I received an e-mail saying that I had been accepted to the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge Team for 2010, my ability to train was shut down! We had a snowstorm back in October that left 7” of very heavy and wet snow on the ground here – and a lot that didn’t make it to the ground remained on leaves of trees. Needless to say, there was tremendous loss of limbs of all sizes, and often whole trees. Hardwood tree architecture is simply not designed to carry so much extra weight at the ends of branches. One of our dogwood trees looked pretty pathetic by the time I cut off all of the broken and cracked branches, so it had to come down.

With my trusty bow saw, I cut off all of the branches, but called a friend with a chain saw to make the final ground level cut to bring down the remaining 7-8 foot ‘stump.’ He is also a wood turner, so was excited by the prospect of getting so much dogwood – a very dense wood – that he could use. Both of us have cut hundreds, if not thousands, of trees over the years, and are certainly safety conscious. He arrived fully equipped – chain saw chaps, steel-toed boots, head and ear protection. I steadied the stump so it wouldn’t bind the saw as he made the cut. He finished, put the saw down, stood up, put his hand on the stump with mine, looked at me and said ‘OK,’ and we pushed the stump over. Unfortunately…it kicked back and a branch stub hit square in the middle of the nail of my big toe – which was not protected by a steel-toed boot. The result was a chip off each side of the end of the bone in the big toe (but no skin breakage, so it wasn’t at all messy!).

Jump ahead to yesterday. I visited my orthopedic doctor, and he told me that I could stop wearing the big grey boot I had worn ever since to protect the toe as it healed. Within an hour, I was on the track to see - gingerly at first - just how it felt. And everything felt good! I did only two miles (predetermined as the maximum I would do), and was pleased to see that my time (12:20 pace) wasn’t nearly as bad as I had feared it would be after five weeks of no power walking! Today I did three miles, and dropped my pace to 12:11 – that is at least 15 – 20 seconds faster than my pace at the beginning of my training for the Ottawa Marathon last spring. Not that the difference is all that important at this stage, but at least it is encouraging. The good news is that most of my joints seem to be functioning the way they should, and muscles aren’t really crying out either. For this I am very thankful.

In just three weeks, I will begin my ‘formal’ training program for Boston. The way I look at it, I have three weeks to get my body back in shape to begin the 18 week training regimen that will culminate on April 19. I’m on my way!

Over the next week or ten days, I will be kicking off my fundraising campaign in earnest. I would be honored, and very appreciative, if you would visit my Dana-Farber personal web page and make a contribution toward our Team Goal of $4.4 million this year. Contributions may be made on line at

http://www.rundfmc.org/2010/alanc/

If you would prefer not to make the contribution on-line, you can mail a check, made out to Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge. (Please do not make the check out to me!) Send it to me at: Alan Cameron, 541 McCormick Ave., State College, PA 16801. I will see that it is forwarded promptly for deposit.

Thank you for your support! It will make a difference when added to all of the other support our team is able to generate. The team is off to a great start! As of today, we have raised more than $230,000. At $168,000/mile, that puts us about 1 1/3 miles along the 26.2 mile course. This is about the stage where the pace picks up a little, and I need to kick it up a notch too. We are working toward the ultimate finish line: a world without cancer.

WELCOME TO MY DFMC TEAM WEB PAGE ‘SUPPLEMENT!’

I am both delighted and humbled to have been selected to be a member of the 2010 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Marathon Challenge Team (DFCM Team) to participate in the 114th Boston Marathon on April 19. The opportunity to do something more than ‘just train’ for another marathon is both exciting and challenging.

Fair warning - I don’t expect that this page will turn into what I think of as a ‘blog’ – frequent updates on how I feel, what my last time and distance results are throughout training, or so many other mundane (to me, at least) kinds of reports. Rather, I expect to use this occasionally to provide additional information that may be of broader interest, related primarily to my goal of raising at least $10,000 in support of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research. Now that’s a mouthful! It is also the ‘official’ name of the program that receives all of the funds contributed in support of my efforts.

This posting, doubtless much longer than future ones will be, is designed to provide those of you who may be interested with some insight into the reasons I applied for selection to the DFMC Team. The application was lengthy and thorough. I have no idea how many applicants they had, nor do I yet know how many of the team members are recipients of a ‘charity’ bib. I do know that I am not the oldest person on the team; one member (at least) is 72 years old. But I am very close!

You may know that Boston is a Marathon that admits only those who ‘qualify’ on the basis of a previous marathon time, based on age group. At my age, I would have had to have done a marathon in no more than 4:30:00. My best time is 5:22:53. (Not too shabby, since I can’t run but ‘only’ walk.) A limited number of organizations are provided ‘charity bibs’ by the Boston Athletic Association each year to aid in their fundraising. And I was lucky enough to receive one of the Dana-Farber bibs. In return, I am committed to raising financial support for research. (And, I might add, they already have my credit card number. They will charge me personally, following the Marathon, for any deficit – which I hope, for a variety of reasons, does not exist – should I fail to raise the minimum support required by the B.A.A. of all charity bib recipients no matter which charity they support.)


Why did I apply for the DFMC Team?

Among my own relatives, cancer has taken two grandparents, my mother-in-law, and a cousin, and has affected in one way or another many others including a parent, brothers, a sister, my wife, a grand-niece, a sister-in-law, and brother-in-law, in addition to me. I have lost good friends and colleagues, but I also have watched others fight and, at least so far, win battles against various forms of this disease. Research continues to find some cures, but much remains to be done. The research effort continues to need more support than public funds make available. There is a need to fund innovative basic cancer research, which fuels my desire to participate on a team that benefits the Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research. As an emeritus professor (Entomology), I understand the critical need for funding for basic research projects that allow new investigators to explore innovative ideas and obtain pilot data so they can launch their careers and pursue further funding to continue what can become ground-breaking research.


Am I participating in honor of someone?

While numerous friends and relatives have been touched by cancer, I have chosen three persons to represent all.

A teenage grand-niece, Angela, went through a year of challenging treatments as she battled lymphoma. Although I live hundreds of miles away from her, I felt deeply the anguish the entire family experienced during the time of her diagnosis and treatment. As a high school senior, she is now in remission, has been for almost two years, and has been able to work through all of the challenges with a positive disposition with the support of her family and friends. She is an inspiration to others with her attitude and outlook, and keenly recognizes, as do we all, how fortunate she is that medical advances have helped her reach her current state.

A long time colleague and friend had a large section of his colon removed almost a year ago because of cancer, and continues a valiant, and so far successful, fight both to recover from this and against metastasis to the liver. He, too, is the beneficiary of some of the new but very expensive drugs that research has produced. As a scientist, I believe in the promise of future research, and am well aware of the funding needed to continue to pursue such research to identify and make available the treatments to better understand and ultimately conquer cancer.

Our neighbor, David, is currently fighting a glioblastoma; his challenge is severe. Seeing the very difficult decisions that both he and his family are making, and will need to make, puts a very personal “face” on the challenge of living with and fighting cancer daily.


What is my personal fundraising goal?

My goal is to raise $10,000, but I do not put a cap on the top end.


Why do I ask for your support?

I ask you to consider the incidence of cancer in your immediate family, and to recognize that survival (or ‘beating it’) depends on the results of modern medicine. This, in turn, depends on the continuing output from (expensive) research and development. You may also choose to remember family members or friends whom you have lost to cancer. The need for funds in excess of what public monies can provide is great. The Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge Team for this year has a goal of raising $4.4 million dollars to add to the over 40 million dollars it has raised over the last 20 years to carry out its mission. Please use the ‘DFMC Dollars in Action’ button on my DFMC Team web page to explore some of the impressive results achieved as a result of DFMC grants in previous years.


Why a Marathon?

For more than 25 years I have been unable to run because of a knee problem, but I can power walk. For years our daughter, Kenzie, and I had been talking (only half-seriously) about doing a marathon together, neither one of us having done more than a 10K - and never together. Four and a half years ago, not long after she moved to Chicago, I received an e-mail saying she had signed us up for the Chicago Marathon in October of 2005. That began one of the most challenging, exciting, and personally rewarding experiences I have had. Not being able to run, but having walked in numerous ‘runs’ over the years, I was comfortable with my two consistent goals: finish the race while the clock is still running (so my time is official), and have at least one person, (preferably a runner and preferably younger than I am!), finish behind me. Anything else is pure gravy.

We followed an 18 week training program (she in Chicago, me in State College), getting together several times for long runs. Clearly Kenzie could leave me in her dust, but she said early on, ‘Dad, we are doing this together; end of discussion!’ when I suggested that she train at a comfortable pace for her. When the day of the Marathon finally arrived, we hit the starting line hand in hand, and 26.2 miles later crossed the finish line hand in hand, but with our hands high over our heads and huge smiles and tears of joy on our faces! And we beat out target time by over 30 minutes!

I have since done a half marathon (Ottawa, 2006), winning my age class among the walkers (they time walkers separately in Ottawa), the Twin Cities Marathon (2008) at which our daughter completely surprised me by flying in to be a part of my ‘curb crew,’ and the Ottawa Marathon (2009) in which I was the 3rd male walker to finish, won my age class among walkers, and was 3rd overall in my age class – beating 5 other runners and 3 other walkers. In each successive Marathon, I have set a new PR – exciting at my age!

While not quite addictive, marathoning is a great way to stay in shape, and to enjoy the out-of-doors during those many training runs when I can either clear my mind, or mull over problems that need to be solved. Travel to race locales, and especially meeting a broad cross-section of people who share a common goal - the personal challenge of completing 26.2 miles on foot and enjoying every step of the way - is educational and rewarding. Those of us well back in the pack really can smell the roses as we work our way to the finish line. It turns out that there are some pretty neat people along the way, not the least of whom are the hundreds of thousands of unknown supporters lining the curb to encourage us every step of the way.


What do I ask of you?

Since I am fortunate enough to be able to have so much fun, I want to leverage this into support for those who are not as lucky. Because I cannot run, I am unable to meet the qualifying time for Boston Marathon participants. But I can walk fast enough to make it to the finish line before they close the course. I am honored to have been selected to the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge Team and receive one of their limited number of ‘charity’ bibs.

Please help me by adding your financial support, at whatever level you feel is right for you, and in honor of a cancer survivor, in memory of someone special to you who has fallen victim to this disease, or simply to support me as I attempt to meet my financial support goal for the Institute. I have already made my personal contribution.

You may make a contribution on-line by going to my personal web page on the Dana-Farber site at
http://www.rundfmc.org/2010/alanc/
and following the instructions. If you prefer not to contribute electronically, please send me a check made out to Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge and I will forward it for deposit.

Thank you so much for joining me in this endeavor. Together, we will make a difference.