Joe and I were part of the record turnout 20,000 runners in the 35th annual Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon. We never dreamed of running a half marathon, never have run any race in our life, but we did it for RJ. We ran to raise awareness and funds for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. We had all the motivation we needed as we saw RJ at mile 5 and he told us to "run faster"...LOL!! Then, the thought of our smiling son waiting at the finish line carried us through the 80 degree temperatures and pain of the last several miles. I have to admit that I was in pain and Joe was the real closet runner, ready to run farther and thoroughly enjoying the moments of the last mile...even smiling! Of course we didn't realize that RJ was most excited about seeing the first marathon runner cross the finish line. We were downgraded by a fast Kenyan! The fact that the first place MARATHON runner finished in 2 hours 19 minutes which was before we even crossed the finish line for the HALF marathon did not diminish our excitement of finishing our first ever race. We both trained for 6 months. We trained at separate times. We rarely ran together because we had different paces and different strides. However, on race day we ran together and crossed the finish line hand in hand, united in our goal. We not only finished a half marathon together, we strengthened our belief that together we can provide RJ the care and love that he will need during his incomprehensible journey with DMD.
Thank you to all of our seventeen runners that made up the RALLY4RJ team. Thank you for your time, commitment, support (and aching bodies). No matter what race you ran or how you did, you are winners in our eyes! Little did we realize that we had speed on our team. Julia Dreher and Bella Piazza finished the 5K race in 1st and 2nd place for their age group! Congratulations girls! Maybe they can start training now and take over our half marathon spots. We hope to double the size of our team next year!
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to our race, sent us kind words of encouragement, and has kept RJ in your prayers. Our team raised over $18,000 for PPMD and their unending quest to find treatments and a cure for DMD. We are strengthened by the love that surrounds us.
Thank you to all of our seventeen runners that made up the RALLY4RJ team. Thank you for your time, commitment, support (and aching bodies). No matter what race you ran or how you did, you are winners in our eyes! Little did we realize that we had speed on our team. Julia Dreher and Bella Piazza finished the 5K race in 1st and 2nd place for their age group! Congratulations girls! Maybe they can start training now and take over our half marathon spots. We hope to double the size of our team next year!
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to our race, sent us kind words of encouragement, and has kept RJ in your prayers. Our team raised over $18,000 for PPMD and their unending quest to find treatments and a cure for DMD. We are strengthened by the love that surrounds us.