The Purpose Driven Run

Years ago I read a book called The Purpose Driven Life  It was meant to be a guide to how you were choosing to live each day. (You can click on the link to find out more information.)  This book came to mind tonight while I was on my run.  In the past few weeks and even the past year, I have been able to run more than I have since I was 18-19 years old (I am now 37.)  Because of having children, but probably more as a result of several injuries that I incurred while running, I gave it up for the most part, until last year when through Facebook, I found out about the Run for the White House for Childhood Cancer Awareness which has now become the largest virtual cross-country running event ever.  The purpose is to not only bring awareness, but also give support to families dealing with childhood cancer.  

Tonight as I was running, I literally was served a symbolic reminder of why we are all doing this.  It's been raining cats and dogs all day and while I was able to get the first mile in without much rain, by mile two is was steadily coming down.  I honestly didn't mind and was fine until someone decided to purposely drive through a large puddle of water, completely drenching me in the process.  It was at this point that I was reminded yet again why I was out here in the first place, at that moment I thought about all the babies I am running for and any small discomfort I might feel is nothing in comparison to what they deal with on a daily basis.  

The last thing I want this blog to come across is me trying to make myself look like a martyr.  I absolutely am not, its not about me, it's the complete opposite!  It's about something so much bigger than me or any of my fellow runners/walkers/bikers/swimmers who are logging miles, it's about the combined love that we all feel towards these little ones.  It's about having a purpose to our workouts, it's about running past aches and pains in order to give our team leader, Brian Jones, something to log.  It's about the huge inspiration that these children who are battling everyday, who are the true warriors, have become to us.  It's about Hailee, Jaydon, Missy, Lincoln, Talia, Nicholas, Sam, Ellie, Trent, Delaney, Leo, Ronan, Ethan, Colton, Heaven, Taylor, Ryan, Beth, Austin, Simon, Brooklyn and so many other little soldiers, some of who have already lost their battle, but still continue to inspire us. 

Everyday I am able to run I am grateful.  I know I am living on borrowed time as far as my body is concerned, but I thank God for every mile he allows me to knock out.  Sometimes when a certain song comes on Pandora, I swear He's cheering me on.  

My hope is to be able to keep this up until September, Childhood Cancer Awareness month.  My other huge hope, is to get others to join our quest.  Even if you aren't a runner, you can walk, bike, swim or even dedicate workouts to our kids.  One very inspiring story is about man who recently suffered a stroke and dedicated his physical therapy time towards miles, that's amazing!  Truly anyone can join us, all you have to do is log into Facebook, like our page and post your workouts on the Run For the White House for Childhood Cancer Awareness 2014.  That's it! The reality is that childhood cancer gets pennies to the dollar when it comes to funding and there is not enough being done currently to stop this epidemic, we need to bring light to this.  If you want to learn more, you can also check out this link, The Truth 365.  Come on, Let's do this, Let's kick Cancer's ASS!