This section will be updated regularly as it takes time to shake the cob webs and remember all the different things and people that make my running so special! My dream is to eventually be published so this is only a small sampling (no room for the entire manuscript).

      

              I DID IT!!!!
11 Races for 11 years with my 11th at the 25th Running of the Dallas Race for the Cure! Linda Boettcher and I left Colorado Springs around 2:00 on Thursday 10/18 and by the time I returned home I had driven a total of 1616 miles!

Check out why Linda is one of my Angels under  ...my first Colorado Springs Race for the Cure 1997!



               NEW PR of 23:57
            and I did it at the 
            25th Running of the
       Dallas Race for the Cure!


It was a great morning to run and actually cooler than predicted... BUT....

... not as cold as it was at home ... 8 inches officially!

I only thought I wanted to get in the hot tub, but after driving 1616 miles I was not in the mood to shovel snow!

It was very humid (at least for me!) but it was great to see and run with Jenna!

The Energizer Bunny - "Power to Keep Going".... There were almost 20,000 registered participants, so I made the mistake of being on the start line with these overzealous runners. After missing a couple of fallen runners, I fell and got trampled. After another survivor picked me up, I went looking for my lost music player...which is probably in a million pieces. Since this was a lost cause and I wasted about a minute, I took off running and probably faster than I would normally because I was little more than "upset". I finished in 4th (Survivor Race) with a time of 25:52 and only seconds behind 3rd. Who knows if I would have run as fast if I hadn't fallen, but I think it is important to note that it was another survivor who picked me up - we know why we participate! I am pictured here with the "Senior" Survivor (from Alaska - her time beat Chris!?)
--- On Friday, when I was in the fitness center doing a short workout before Saturdays Race, I met a lady from Atlanta. Faye is an aspiring gospel singer, and as we got to know each other and shared our dreams she said my story made her think of a bible verse. "What the Devil has meant for evil, God has turned around for good". I had never heard this before but I LOVE IT!

I had tried to do Aspen for several years but it had always fallen on a bad weekend. This year was no exception, but I left our family reunion a day early and then rushed back to Colorado Springs for the 2nd Annual Guns and Hoses game after the Aspen Race. Who says you can't do it all.
Today is best described as 2 causes for one! Their course is partially on trails next to the river... and I love running trails. They also do a dog walk with special goodies for all the dogs. As part of this they invite Animal Rescue out of Carbondale to set up a booth with adoptable pets. The adoptable dogs are walked by volunteers during the dog walk. Even though it had only been 6 weeks since we lost our 12 year old lab, Aggie, it was hard to say no to Jen when she fell in love with a 9 month old lab mix. She was named Suki and we decided to name her Sadie...I wanted Suzi (for obvious reasons, but lost the vote). She has definitely become an important part of our family. She has so much energy and personality...but that squeaky toy at 5:00 in the morning...

1/21/2006 – S. Florida, West Palm Beach – 2nd Survivor, 25:22
Our flight is delayed and we don't get to the hotel and to sleep until abut 1:30 a.m. and have to get up early to get our packets a pretty early race start. The course is a flat, out and back on the street next to the water. It is warmer and more humid than I like but I finish fairly well...at least it is a new personal record. I did stop a couple of times and there was a young lady wearing an "Outback Steakhouse" t-shirt that would stop and get me going again - what an Angel! I really thought that the difference in altitude would be more significant, but I was only a minute behind 1st place who, I learned later, was 10 years younger and a long-time tri-athlete! We had done a 5K the weekend before for the Winter Series and Jenna also competed in a half-marathon on Sunday after the RFTC. Facing the 4 mile race the next weekend was not easy for either of us...expecially Jenna!


I dedicated my 2006 Running season to Kathy Fiorillo! We miss you!
Your inspiration still motivates and you are why "Hope Shines On!"


9/11/2005 - Colorado Springs - Race Chair
This is my 3rd year to chair and I seriously recommend only 2 years in a row which I'm sure every Race Chair will second that opinion! I can't complain because the race committee and volunteers really make me look good! They deserve the credit, not me!
We had chosen 9/11 as our Race date and as such wanted to make it really a celebration of survivors, not just Breast Cancer! After NY, we are all survivors! The military piece to our event was easy as our venue was at the Fort Carson Iron Horse Park and the Army was and is so great to our cause! I then asked Sal and Kathy Fiorillo to be our honorary chairs this year. Kathy had been the team captain and inspiration for the Guns and Hoses team since her diagnosis, so this added our Police and Fire piece to our celebration! (Kathy still watches over us...the day after this Race she was diagnosed with chemo-induced Leukemia...we believe she BEAT breast cancer, but this was too much and we lost her in April 2006).
As I mentioned, 3 years is pushing it and I was seriously facing burn-out and having trouble getting motivated....until about 6 weeks before the Race! That was when I received an email from Captain Todd ... in Iraq! He wanted to know if they could organize a 5K there in support of our Race? Needless to say, my motivation sky-rocketed! Working with him and his team was absolutely incredible! They ran about 6 hours before our race start and sent email to a contact here with pictures that we were able to use and post at our Race! It was incredible...about 150 signed up for their Race and about 95 took off from their start line! I was able to work with New Balance and get certificates for shoes as prizes for their top 3 male and female finishers! Thank you New Balance! I had also worked with John at Colorado Running and sent a rather large box in advance of their race...start line banner, powdered gatorade, race bibs, etc. Thanks John!


9/19/1999 – Colorado Springs
My 2nd attempt at being team-captain is definitely more successful and fun. We get creative and make a 100-foot caterpillar from the rolls of plastic tablecloth material that we staple together leaving holes for our heads to stick out...and that is how we cross the finish line. We had about 100 people on our team, raised a significant amount of money and won MOST CREATIVE team award!


9/13/1998 – Colorado Springs
This my 2nd Race and I am the Team Captain for our HP team. Most of us walked together and crossed the finish line together...I think we might have done a little face painting or something to show our unity.


9/14/1997 – Colorado Springs – The first of many!
The 1996 Colorado Springs Race For the Cure was held 3 days after my mastectomy. I had never had much reason to pay attention to or be involved in the event, but this all changed with my diagnosis. For obvious reasons, I was not able to attend in 1996. A friend from work participated and gave me her shirt, and my husband woke up Sunday morning and decided at the last minute that he would also participate. I was overwhelmed with his thoughtful gesture and even a little jealous when he came home and shared this very positive experience.  Everything was so new for both of us at this point as I had only been diagnosed about 3 weeks prior to the Race.  Chris normally only saw “black and white” and we had just been thrown into a very “gray” world.  I don’t know if it was all the “pink” at the race or the people he talked to, but I could definitely sense a change in his outlook. He had a positive attitude, but the race seemed to have a calming, hopeful effect on him. I vowed that I would do whatever necessary to attend the race in 1997.

I started seeing posters at work advertising the race, but it wasn’t until about a week before the race that I took the time to call the person listed as a contact.  It was a Friday and I had waited until the last minute, as it was only 8 days until the race. When I called Linda to ask about the race, we also talked about my diagnosis and treatments.  I got the information I needed, but that was only the beginning of this story. On Monday, as I was walking through the hall upstairs at work I was stopped by a woman who had noticed the pink ribbon on my T-shirt. We began talking and discovered that we had spoken on Friday about the race. We talked more about the race and then went about our separate ways.

Race day finally arrived and not only was I there, but I was sharing it with my two kids and husband. From the time we arrived, I could feel the “power” of this event. The fact that we were helping raise money for Breast Cancer research was secondary.  I was more impressed by the sense of hope – it was such a positive feeling that surrounded us as we walked the course.

My daughter is very high energy and was running ahead of us, or maybe away from us, for much of the course. Chris and I would take turns staying with her and making her stop and wait.  About a mile into the course, my son and I caught up to them and I found my husband and daughter talking to Linda.

“Hey, Connie – we found a friend of yours!” he said and then ran off to catch up to our daughter again.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Linda and we began chatting and walking together.  But after about 2 minutes of talking I realized that Chris did not know that I knew Linda.  It wasn’t like him to strike up a conversation with a stranger. She was wearing a sticker with our company logo on it, but it was a big company and that was not a good reason for him to start talking to her. No, the reason he stopped to talk was to ask about the pink sign on her back.  I do have a common name, but she indeed was walking in recognition of ME! I was so touched when I realized this as I had only talked to her twice.  As I have learned over the years, this is just like her.  She is very active in the Race for the Cure, sits on the committee and had been acting as the team captain for our corporate team. Guess who she asked the next year to take over as team captain? There was no way I could tell her “no”!