- Race Morning 10/9/11 5:00am
My wife had carefully placed every name carefully on the back of my Determination running shirt. I saw my mothers name at the top and the memory of her announcing 25 yrs ago that she had breast cancer came rushing back in my brain. The name of Kerry Peoples stared back at me on the white ribbon - my childhood friend who had died of cancer at the age of 35. Also, the name of Charlotte Rich – an amazing woman who touched so many of us at Hamilton High School with her teaching and kindness but inspired us forever with her long, courageous battle with this terrible disease. The name of Norman Holloway – our neighbor – the beloved father of the 3 “Holloway Boys” who was diagnosed and died within weeks earlier this year.
I left the hotel at 5:30 and began the 2 block walk to the Chicago station and the Red Line that will take me to Grant Park. There were 2 runners from South Africa who were standing on the corner looking at a map. They had no clue where the train station was. My good deed for the morning.
- Ready To Run
I rubbed the ribbon of my Aunt Corrine who had died just a few years ago after a very hard battle with multiple cancers. On a red ribbon was the name Angela Bryowsky.. my sister-in-law who is now in her 5th battle with cancer and who I had talked to just a few days earlier as she was preparing for her monthly week of chemo for her brain tumor.
I then went over every name. Read every one a few times. Tried to remember where each name would be on my back.
- Honoring Our Grandma!
We arrived at the Roosevelt Station and began the long walk in the dark towards the Charity Village and the Determination-ACS Hospitality Tent where I planned to continue to hydrate, stretch and add one final, very important ribbon.
The night before I had miscounted how many white ribbons that I needed. I needed one more. For Erik Schmipf. You see, in memory of Erik is why I’m now less than an hour from running the 26.2 miles. Erik was the son of Heidi who works in our Lake Forest office. He passed away in 2007 at the age of 20 from Hodgkins Lymphoma and made my decision very easy to pick Determination to support for this race.
As I tried to calm my nerves stretching in the tent I began looking at my running teammates who were now streaming into the tent. More than 700 strong would be running for the American Cancer Society in this race and each has wore the names of their loved ones honored on their backs. In total, our team has raised $1,000,000 as we trained for this race. Incredible.
I slowly slid my running singlet over my head – making sure that each ribbon stayed on even asking someone next to me to make sure that they could all be seen – all 38 names.
The race was amazing. The city of Chicago came out over 1 million strong lining the streets to cheer all 38,000 of us who finished the 26.2 miles. I saw so many of my fellow Determination runners on the course and several times out of the blue the “coaches” ran with me for a few minutes…encouraging me…. talking to me… asking me if I needed any water or anything….. and telling me to remember why I was enduring this pain. It so helped me more than they will ever realize.
- The Bling
At mile 20 I began the final 10K desperately trying to keep my pace and my dream of breaking 4 hours intact. It was somewhere on that mile that I saw a sign that said “Six Months Ago This Seemed Like a Great Idea!!!”. I laughed when I saw it but I didn’t agree with it. I was very proud of what I was about to accomplish.
I crossed the finish line in 4:08:55 and accomplished my goal of running my fastest race yet.
I arrived at the tent; immediately stuck my feet in the ice bath and stared at my medal and reflected on that hot race.
- Team Determination – Chicago Marathon 2011
It was at that point that it hit me. My official racetime was 4:08. I had received two more donations late on Saturday night and my current fundraising total at noon on race day? $4,080
My goal next year? Make sure I cap my fundraising at 3,059.99 
To make a donation to my Team Determination fundraiser please click below
http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/DetermiNation/DNFY11IL?px=20820458&pg=personal&fr_id=35207
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6 comments
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dpittman says:
October 18, 2011 at 7:48 am (UTC -5 )
What a great post, Michael. I’m so darned proud of you for the effort you put into your running and fund-raising, but I’m even more proud of the heart and soul behind all of that. Your life has clearly been touched far too many times by cancer, but you aren’t sitting idly by the side, letting it take control. You’re out there kicking its butt!
Thank you for all you do, and for being a great story teller.
One of the highlights of my race this year was seeing you run by at mile 15-and-change. You looked great, and it was awesome to see those ribbons like a cape on your back. It was even better to catch up to you for the walk back to the tent.
Great race, buddy, and great race report!
Sharon Rolston says:
October 18, 2011 at 8:51 am (UTC -5 )
Michael,
What an awesome inspiring story! Keep up the the good work, it is people like you who will win the fight against cancer.I am David’s sister, a cancer survivor and the mother of another Determination runner, you all make me Proud!
Thank You!
Maggie says:
October 18, 2011 at 8:52 am (UTC -5 )
Amazing post! So inspiring!
Manuel Haro says:
October 18, 2011 at 10:29 am (UTC -5 )
Michael thank you for sharing your story. I love reading your posts because you write from the heart, I can feel the passion you have for doing this. Your writing continues to inspire me as well to continue to share my story here on this DetermiNators.org blog.
The Chicago Marathon weekend was absolutely amazing. This was my first trip to Chicago, being from California it made a lasting impression on me and I was fortunate to be a course coach at mile 11.9, so we may have run into each other. I am thankful for DetermiNation because I get to meet incredible passionate people that want to put and end to cancer. Thank You for all that you do and sharing your story. We will kick cancer’s butt.
Victoria says:
October 18, 2011 at 8:01 pm (UTC -5 )
Great story Michael! You are an inspiration!
Ann says:
October 28, 2011 at 8:30 am (UTC -5 )
thank you for sharing your experience and paying such a lovely tribute to your friends and family who have faced cancer.
Recaps Around the Web for the 2011 Chicago Marathon | Markemmanuel says:
October 18, 2011 at 4:40 pm (UTC -5 )
[...] DetermiNators.org – “Running for DetermiNation – A Chicago Marathon to Remember and Honor“ [...]