"If you
run, you are a runner. It doesn't matter how fast or how far. It doesn't matter
if today is your first day or if you've been running for twenty years. There is
no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just
run."
--John Bingham
--John Bingham
Running is a way to clear your mind, feel a few
moments of freedom from the stresses of the world. Running is an escape
yet a way to rule the world for that moment in time.
On Saturday I participated in the 28th Annual (my 4th) Champions forLife TorchRun; this time as a Celebrity. The
Jonathan Jaques Children’s Cancer Center (JJCCC) at Miller Children’s Hospital
Long Beach provides quality compassionate care to children of all ages –
infants, children and adolescents – with cancer, sickle cell disease,
hemophilia and other serious blood disorders.
Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach provides tertiary level
hematology/oncology care, while using age- appro0priate preparation, advanced
equipment and treatment to more than 800 children each year. I have always loved this event as it is a
time where children currently living with or have beaten cancer get to run,
carrying and passing their torch to the next in a show of solidarity and
faith. There are also families that are
running in the memory of a child taken too soon; these are the families that I
want to hold, hug and run with because their pride and sadness show through
their eyes all too knowingly.
Each leg of the torch
run is 1/8 of a mile, this can seem like 10 miles to a child fighting from
cancer. I ran this leg of the event multiple times with multiple families
providing encouragement and cheerleading along the way. Cheering on 4 year olds
like Logan battling ITP, running with his siblings Jackson (6) and Grace (2)
(Gracerella) supporting Logan’s mission to beat cancer. I met Jackson, Grace and their father in the
parking structure – Jackson telling me all about his little brother and how
much he wants him to beat cancer. Then
there was the mom, struggling with her jogging stroller and 2 small children,
her son bald from chemo but smiling as she finally got the stroller up and
going WITH both kids in tow.
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| His mom ended the race in tears watching him fight to finish ahead of his sister. Such a great family! |
I
loved the moments of running with little guys who would rather fight and beat
their sister than let her carry THEIR torch AND beat you. A mother who told me about her sons 85 blood
transfusions and finally a bone marrow transplant for her 9 year old son with
sickle cell anemia. I want to hug, love
on and laugh with each child and family that I meet along the route. I enjoy watching the family interactions, the
pride and the fight that each child and family puts forth.
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| The fight and the will |
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| I was asked to run the torch for a family unable to make the event |
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| With Trish from Austin and Ali and her brother from Modern Family |
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| The boys from Disney's So Random |
I will be visiting Miller Children’s Hospital
and the cancer center in the coming weeks to read and enjoy these wonderful
children and their families.
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