For at least 15 years I've been thinking about running a marathon to raise money and fight cancer. You would think that my nephew being diagnosed with Burkett's lymphoma would have prodded me into it. Or any other family members and friends that have been diagnosed in the past 15 years. But no. Why did it take so long? Simple - fear. Fear of failure. Fear of asking people for money. Fear of 26.2 miles.
So why now? That takes some explaining. In January of 2010 I met a young man at a family party that needed a kidney. I offered mine. He wisely asked me to get back to him when I hadn't been drinking. He didn't think I was serious - I didn't know him. But 11 long months later he had a new kidney and I was swimming in good karma. Here I had done something that most people think of as terrifying - surgery! for a guy I met at a party! - but I thought of it as an opportunity. I could change someone's life - immediately. I'd been donating platelets and I'd been listed on the bone marrow donor list but this was a gift I'd been given.
What does kidney donation have to do with raising money for cancer and running the Boston marathon? I decided there was no point in waiting any longer. I wasn't getting any younger - it wouldn't get easier and I wasn't afraid. I knew I could do it. So I am.
