Awaiting the Results

Support the Climb of 5,164 – Donation Totals to be Released Friday 


Thank you to everyone that reunited with my “Papa” and supported the climb of 5,164!  It was a fantastic atmosphere and a memorable experience.  We won’t know the official total of donations until the end of this week as more continue to pour in online and through the mail; however, it’s fair to that that we far exceeded $5,164.  I might have to run the steps 2 or 3 times over…

Support the Climb of 5,164

Reunite with Dr. Louis “Papa”Heyman –  Sunday, Oct 9th, 2011

Here is an opportunity to come together for a special reunion to honor and meet up with Dr. Louis “Papa” Heyman in the local Metro Detroit area.

Since there are 5,164 steps to climb and descend on the Great Wall of China Marathon, we thought it would be a creative way to organize a fundraiser where former patients, employees, colleagues, students, friends and family can help pledge $1 a step to reach the goal of 5,164.

 

To make a donation online, go to: http://www.giving.northwestern.edu/nu/CNADC (RUN4PAPA)

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Running Cliff-side

Teetering on the Edge

I had the great pleasure of running alongside the sunset cliffs located in San Diego, California.  The views Ever thought about running a sandbar from one end to the next? Me neither until recently.

View some footage before & after the sunset.

Before:

After:  

Read was it like to run 5 feet from some of the most beautiful cliffs ocean-side, go to: On the Edge of the Ocean

 

Run4Papa Surveys Sunset Cliffs

On the Edge of the Ocean

There is no shortage of beautiful panoramic views throughout the city of San Diego, California.  One could clearly run along Harbor Island with it’s scenic view of the downtown skyline, take a hike around the Historic Lighthouse at Pont Loma, or handpick anyone of the famous beaches along the coast from Ocean all the way up to La Jolla.  And while I was tempted to run in each of these locations, I was persuaded by my co-workers that Sunset Cliffs was the ideal locale to run ocean-side.

I arrived to work at 6AM and left at 2:30PM in order to take full advantage of each and every day since clear blue skies and 75 degree weather were a constant fixture in this city.  My co-workers apologized for the poor weather because “it was partly cloudy” (until 10AM) and then the sky cleared like clockwork everyday!  I would say San Diego-ans are spoiled rotten but they aren’t.  They just chose to live in a place where the weather is picture perfect 95% of the time!

My good friend Pat grabbed me from a beach social at Mission Bay (an after work get together of course) and drove toward sunset cliffs as we prepared for an hour long trek overlooking the sea…

When we arrived at the cliffs, we a saw signage posted every couple of hundred feet: Danger.  Sheer Unstable Cliffs. STAY BACK.

Ever so carefully, I walked near (just near mom) the edge of the cliffs and prepared a little commentary before our run.  The panoramic view was breathtaking.  To the left and right as far as the eyes could see were an endless amount of cliffs parallel to the sea. Below me – a solid couple hundred foot drop to the ocean floor. In front of me – a glowing sun symmetrically reflecting off the sky and calming body of water.

We zigzagged through the sandy path (about 5-10 feet from the cliffs) carefully avoiding bystanders sitting in chairs sipping on cold beer, couples comfortably nestled up together on towels and cars hugging the roads absorbing the ever-changing scenery. I wish I had a time lapse camera to capture the sunset throughout the duration of this run; however, I was able to secure a handful of images along the way.  I will have to put the other images in my mental vault and store them away for safe keeping.

As the sun continued to set, we headed back towards the car.  The sun was about to dip into the sea so we quietly filmed a wrap-up so as not to disturb the locals from enjoying that special moment of their day. As the sky turned into night, I found myself snapping one last shot.

I became lost in my own thoughts but I wasn’t lost at all…I was just in paradise.

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Run4Papa versus The Sandbar

End-to-End

You might not think heading to a lake would be an ideal running spot to train; however, with a venue like The Great Wall of China, I am constantly thinking outside of the box. There is no handbook to simulate the elements of this run so I figured any type of training would be beneficial. With this in mind, my father and I headed to  Union Lake, located in Commerce Township, Michigan.

We headed out on our pontoon boat and took a loop around the lake.  The weather was around 75 degrees and being a fall Sunday in September, there weren’t many boats on the water. As we reached the midway point of our ride, I had the notion of running the sandbar: End-to-End. I figured, why not? I have run on all types of surfaces and races the past couple months; surely, this would be a one-of-a-kind training experience.

I had no idea exactly how accurate that statement would turn out to be…

For those of you unfamiliar with the depth of a sandbar, it is roughly 3-5 feet.  Most people pull their boats into the designated area, anchor, and swim. With only a couple of boats on the lake, we dropped anchor and I slid into the water – slightly cooler than 4th of July weekend.

When I began running the sandbar, there was soft sand beneath my feet which produced minimal resistance in my strides.  This lasted for several hundred yards and was comfortably manageable.

As I continued getting further and further away from the boat, the dynamic of the run shifted because the surface below was getting deeper and muckier. My strides shortened considerably and transitioned from a solid run to a slower jog. The once smooth sandy surface quickly turned into a thicker muck surrounded by algae (god only knows the species roaming around below).  It felt like someone attached 10 pound weights to my ankles because my feet were sinking and needed to be stretched ever so carefully to release them from the surface below.

Step after step became tougher and tougher; however, like running any long-distance race, you just put one foot in front of the other and push forward.  I was able to reach the end of the sandbar and was jumping up and down for a long-distance picture.  On the third jump, my sunglasses flew off my face into the murkier water.  I held my breath, cupped my hands and dove below to try and catch ’em.  For the record, I have never lost a pair of sunglasses on any body of water; yet, a pair of $7 Venice Beach sunglasses were just donated to the bottom of Union Lake.

After reaching the far end of the sandbar, I thought it only appropriate to run back to the boat.  Without a doubt my father would have grabbed me, but he looked pretty content relaxing on the boat.  And to be honest, it has never been my mentality to do anything halfway.  Putting one foot in front of the next, I strided back through the sandbar until the muck was behind me. At last, I was able to run full stride and complete the Run4Papa v. Sandbar challenge.

This valuable run proved to be a solid test of both mind and body because you can never fully anticipate how the elements and mother nature are going to alter your route. Marathon preparation is 80% mental & 20% physical so when unexpected moments occur, you need to be able to readjust your approach and improvise along the way…

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Warrior Dash

Mud. Sweat. Beer.

There has been a ton of hype heading into the Warrior Dash out here in Huntersville, North Carolina.  There was a tremendous amount of excitement stemming from people in the local and surrounding communities; however, the threat of hurricane Irene made the potential postponement or all out cancellation of the Warrior Dash a realistic possibility. Fortunately, the hurricane changed course mid-week and the race went on as planned.

Per my usual routine, I indulged in some delicious r.a.w. sushi the night before the big event.  For whatever reason on shorter races, sushi is my fuel.  I relish in “filling up my fish tank” and then waking up the next morning and running, well, more like Superman on this day.

My close friends Adam & Michelle (who flew in from Cleveland for this race) decided to join for all the festivities.  Our wave was at 2:00PM and we decided to scope out the event by heading to the grounds at high noon.  As we were pulling into the lot, we could see people dressed up in a variety of costumes from Braveheart & samurai warriors to villains & superheroes.  No matter what age or gender, everyone was here to have a good time and get dirty!

While waiting at the Start line, the energy was positive and brewing. The weather was a typical 90-degree Charlotte summer’s day  (without humidity), partly cloudy skies and a slight breeze in the air.  The countdown began and we raced through the coral as fire was going off above and headed down the winding path for about 3/4 of a mile before hitting our first couple of obstacles.  We scaled over fences and crouched beneath barbed wire.  We came around a short bend only to come up to a bunch of different dumpsters  where we were hopping in & out, from one to the next. After this, we approached a bunch of uneven connected ladders and had to walk across maintaining our balance.  Of course, off in the distance we could see a major roadblock ahead:  a 30 foot wall.

As we approached the wall, there were 4 ropes dangling in front.  We carefully pulled our way up to the top of the wall, and flung our bodies over the side to come back down.  As a reward, we had a water station awaiting. Not much time to relax as the next challenge lead us through a trail path that weaved up & down throughout the forest another 3/4 of a mile.  As we approached the end of the trail, we had to get down on our hands & knees  in order to continue as there was an enclosed black tarp that we had to crawl underneath (about 100 feet).  Inside was total darkness.  There was a ton of dirt, dust and random arms and legs swaying to & fro.  I kept my head down and my eyes wide shut until I spotted a glimpse of daylight.

We popped out and rounded the corner.  In front of us, a muddy river!  We jumped from land to water, straddled logs in the river and managed to come out soaked to the bone.  One thought: keep moving!

As we headed up a hill, we reached our last mile of the Warrior Dash challenge.  Obstacle after obstacle lay ahead: crawling like a spider over jagged  cargo nets, hiking up stairs and sliding down fire poles, climbing more cargo nets and crossing over structures that had no safety nets below.  It was an adrenaline rush to say the least.

With the finish line in sight, we could see smoke and fire in the distance.  We ran towards the fire and hurdled two sets of burning logs only to run directly into a barbed-wired filled mud pit.  It was deep and beyond muddy…fantastic!  The mud pit spanned about 30 yards and we boot-camped it under the wire. Covered in mud from head-to-toe, we crossed the finish line and were given our rewards: a medal and a cold beer!

Before heading out we were hosed down by a water truck.  This was both fun and necessary!  As mud poured down our bodies, we headed towards the parking lot and stopped short of the massive pile of dirty shoes that warriors donated to charity.  These shoes would be cleaned and given to those that needed them most in the local community.

All in all, this race was the craziest one so far!  I highly recommend anyone who hasn’t had the opportunity to partake in the future!  As my fellow warriors would attest:

It’s all about the Mud, Sweat & Beer!

Next year, I look forward to sharing this experience with both fellow warriors and newbie competitors,  and of course, compete for best warrior time and costume!

To see video from the race go to: Live Commentary as a Warrior

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Are you a warrior?

Live from the Warrior Dash


Here are a couple videos that were recorded at the Warrior Dash race in Huntersville, North Carolina…please feel free to comment!

Pre-race Warrior Dash Commentary:

Mud. Sweat. Beer! Warrior Dash Teaser

Head-to-Toe Wrap-up:

To read my step-by-step account of the race go to: Warrior Dash Run

Major ALS Breakthrough at Northwestern University

Researchers discover common cause of all forms of ALS

I have partnered with Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine to help create awareness for PPA research.  A couple days ago, this department had a MAJOR breakthrough in the researching and testing of the brutal disease ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.  The relentless persistence of a quarter century has finally paid of for senior author Teepu Siddique, M.D., Professor of the Department of Neurology and Clinical Neurosciences at Northwestern’s Feinberg School and a neurologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

He said he was initially drawn to it because, “It was one of the most difficult problems in neurology and the most devastating, a disease without any treatment or known cause.”

The underlying disease process of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS and Lou Gehrig’s disease), a fatal neurodegenerative disease that paralyzes its victims, has long eluded scientists and prevented development of effective therapies. Scientists weren’t even sure all its forms actually converged into a common disease process.

But a new Northwestern Medicine study for the first time has identified a common cause of all forms of ALS.

 

 

 

Meeting A Living Legend

How I Got to Run Side by Side Bill Rodgers

22 Time Marathon WINNER Bill Rodgers Endorses Run4Papa!

I I was told there was a man named Bill who had run the Boston Marathon 4 times and would be the keynote speaker.  Whether it was because I was up at the crack of dawn, or just flat out didn’t hear the information clearly, I was thrilled to be part of any event partnering running with a local charity. I filmed the registration of the event, some warm-up exercises and did an introduction for our staff. I saw Bill speaking to some people, taking pictures, and signing autographs. It was sinking in that I had not heard the whole story about this man but I had to prep for the race.

We counted down from 10 and the race began.  I got out of the gate quickly as I had to film the start, portions of the race, and an interview with Bill afterwards.  I ran about halfway and stopped in order to film some of the runners.  As I saw Bill approaching (he had gotten a late start due to being swarmed by fans), I felt comfortable with my footage and continued running the second half of the 5K. He had was been running alone at a steady pace…

We struck up a conversation about running immediately and briefly discussed how international the sport has become over the past couple of decades.  “There are races anywhere and everywhere. No matter what the language or location, you can challenge yourself on any part of the globe,” said Bill.  My immediate curiosity got the best of me and I asked him, “Is it true you have run the Boston Marathon 4 times?” Without being pretentious or condescending he replied,

“Actually I ran it 17 times. I won it 4.”

To tell you I wanted to crawl in a cave and hibernate for a season or two is being awfully generous.

I am positive he sensed my embarrassment; however, we continued running and talked as if we had been friends for years. He was so grounded and friendly.  I asked him how many marathons he had won. “22. Boston 4 times, New York City 4 times, Rio de Janeiro, Stockholm, Japan…” I asked him about the pressure of 3-peating the Boston Marathon from ’78-80 (he informed me of the exact dates ) and he just had a confidence about him that was contagious.

He just loves to run.

He asked me “Have you ever considered running a marathon?”  It was this question that lead me to explain the Run 4 Papa campaign. He mentioned he once ran the Beijing Marathon and came up 1 mile short. My face must’ve shifted color and expression as Bill chuckled and said,

“Well, I was trying to win it and not just finish!”

As we were nearing the finish line, he offered his full support for the cause and asked me if he could endorse the website on camera.  Here was a living legend offering his endorsement to raise awareness about PPA. I was floored and honored.

After our interview, Bill was kind enough to give me his contact information and said, “Make sure you call me when you get back to Charlotte.”

I guarantee this time I will be well prepared for our conversation…

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