The Cupertino Courier

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Writer takes on marathon task of helping cure cancer

By Erin Hussey

I've been an athlete since I could walk.

As a child I swam and did gymnastics. In elementary school I was on numerous sports teams and in high school I commuted by ferry to play volleyball. In college I woke up at 5:15 a.m. to row crew.

I loved almost every minute of it. I learned about teamwork, dedication and perseverance. The players and coaches, wins and losses, have helped shape me into the person I am today. When I graduated from Santa Clara University in 2005, I thought I had learned everything I could from athletics.

I was wrong.

Last December I started throwing around the idea of training for a marathon. When I told people, the number one response was, "Why would you ever want to do that? You must be crazy."

I have to admit that, even to this day, I'm not sure where the idea came from. I enjoyed running for leisure and occasionally ran in 10K (6.2-mile) races, but had never come close to the vicinity of 26.2 miles. In fact, the farthest I had ever run was 8 miles.

Despite my lack of experience, I started looking online for ways to prepare for a marathon. In one of my Google searches, the Team in Training website popped up.

After learning about its mission to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma and improve the quality of life of patients and their families, as well as attending an informational meeting, I decided to sign-up.

I couldn't think of a better way to train for a marathon. It would be the first time in my athletic career that I could take my love of fitness and truly make a difference in someone else's life.

The South Bay Run Team consisted of more than 150 participants, several mentors, a variety of honorees and three coaches. Throughout the months of February, March, April and May we met at various trails to run and listened to guest speakers about foot care, hydration and cross-training.

In addition to the coaching we received, each participant was required to raise a certain amount of money that would be donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I pledged to raise $2,800.

As our mileage increased every week, so did my stress about hitting my fundraising goal. But luckily I have a number of generous and supportive friends, family and co-workers who helped me reach it.

When the week of May 28 rolled around, I was a complete mess. One minute I would feel totally pumped and ready to take on the marathon, the next I was utterly nervous.

Everyone around me kept reminding me that I had done the training and that I was ready, but it just didn't seem to sink in. And it didn't, until five days later and three miles into the actual San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon itself.

I found the race was better than I anticipated. My legs felt great, the fan support was amazing and the "June Gloom" of San Diego couldn't have been better running weather. Then came mile 22, and I hit it--that inevitable "wall" that everyone warns you about. And it hurt, bad.

Not only did my legs feel like they needed to be amputated, my mind started turning against me. "Why are you doing this?" "What were you thinking?"

But I kept going. When I saw the 25-mile marker, I felt like a new person. Heck, I had just ran 24 miles, what was 2.2 more? I picked up my stride and I ran the rest of the way.

Weeks later I'm still feeling the effects of completing a marathon; my knees feel somewhat arthritic and I keep catching myself thinking, "If I can run a marathon, I can do that."

While I didn't beat the course record of 2:08:33, I did learn something no other sport has taught me: the power of one.

Collectively, the 3,000 Team in Training participants who ran in the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon raised $12.5 million toward the fight against blood cancers.

So continue to go that extra mile: it's never too crowded.