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(This is part one of a two part article.)
Trip Down Memory Lane - The Finale. Final Day. Day 13, June 17. Portland, ME--Casco, ME It seems like only yesterday - that fateful day in January when I first read about the Miracle Marathon on my teammate Chris' website, runnerscircle.com It was still at the early stage of the marathon; there were no website, no brochures. But I read that the runners were fundraising for critically ill children. I right away sent in a donation to Chris who I didn't know nor ever met. "For critically ill children" was all I needed to know. My heart has a soft spot for children. Because I believe children are the future of our society, the weight bearing columns of a house. There is nothing worse than seeing an otherwise happy child critically sick in bed. I didn't mind Camp Sunshine was located in far away Maine. Because I know illness doesn't discriminate. Geographic or political boundaries mean nothing to a disease. Thus if we want to stand a chance winning the battles fighting these diseases, we need to fight with the same mind frame. Later when Chris invited me to join the team, part of me wanted to do it, but realistically I didn't think I could. However talking to Matt on the phone changed all that. His dedication and passion had me convinced. Since then I lived and breathed with the Miracle Marathon. It was a tough balancing act juggling between working full time, fundraising and training. But I couldn't have been happier. Merely months before then I was going through rough waters in my personal life. I started building walls around me and locking myself in physically and mentally. I was suffering a text book case of depression. Slowly I turned the corner. Running once again put me back on track and helped dealing with the stress. And the Miracle Marathon was just what the doctors ordered. It knocked down all those walls I had built around myself. It gave me a chance to bring back my old self: the happy, outgoing and caring person that I once was. I had a lot to be thankful for on this final day of our journey. For my good health, for being part of this wonderful team of people, for all the supports we got. This was going to be a special day. However the weather forecast was not to our favor. A storm had moved in fast the night before and thunderstorm was predicted for the day. Today we were invited to run
The copyright of the article The Finale. in Running is owned by . Permission to republish The Finale. in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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