strong women run for 5 hours and 47 minutes.

I never said I was fast. Although I surprised myself at how slow I am, that wasn't the point of the marathon for me. It was to enjoy myself and to make a small difference in the life of a blood cancer patient. I did just that. I raised $4834.20 for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and ran my little heart out just for those who have or have survived blood cancers. I started out on this journey running for Ashley and little did I know I would be running for 14 others. My dad asked me on our way home what kept me going and it was Ashley, Foster Case, Sue Rowe, Pat Lewis, Carolyn Stair, Adrienne Lemmond, Rebecca Johnson, James Lyle, Marge Beko, Cleva Cole, Bill Hargrove, Ruth Carey Seigle, Robert Smith, Garehard Lysk, and Don Allen who kept my legs moving. I thought about what all they had to go through and how much pain they were in and what I was going through was only temporary. Those people have made a difference in my life. I can't even imagine having to do that marathon without those people in my thoughts. They gave me a reason to run. They gave me a reason not to give up. And they gave me a strength that I could have only found in their names and stories. I know that they will always be in my thoughts when I run marathons because they are the ones that got me to the starting line and finish line of my very first marathon. All five hours and forty seven minutes of Sunday, October 19 were dedicated to those names mentioned and it changed my life forever.