Day 5: Luann Keyes

Today we ran from Cedar City, UT to Bicknell, UT. The cliffs/rock formations in Utah are amazing! Like every other day thus far I felt truly blessed to be capable of running through the beautiful scenes. We saw cows standing on the side of the road and running along side our van! Here's some of the pictures from my run today:

Beautiful :) 

So many beautiful cliffs

A cow keeping an eye out for us as we ran around a bend

Me and my running partner, Elizabeth

Today I was in Van #2. We each ran 12 miles; that makes my total 77 miles in 5 days. After running today I still felt like I had more in me! But for a few days we are going to be running 12 miles each so we see if everyone feels more comfortable running that instead of 16 a day. Our bodies will enjoy the little bit of a break as we try and become more conditioned. The weather today was really dry. I was told that it wont change for a while and since we have a while left in this dry heat I got myself some really good moisturizer tonight at the supermarket. The family that cooked us dinner said that their supermarket closes at 8! The mom was so nice and took me, Susan, and Elizabeth to get some items so we would make it there. If we had walked from the Middle School we are staying at then we wouldn't have made it in time! 
The Crane family is a part of the local cross country team. They got donations from other teammates and came up to the school and cooked us spaghetti. It was amazing! As all the food is during this trip :) 
They also brought us milk and breakfast items, water bottles, and some sunscreen! We are so blessed to have supporters wherever we go. The Mom said that their family is heavily affected by cancer and they are also very involved with running. She was glad that they got the chance to come meet our team and help out. Tomorrow morning her and the older daughter are meeting us at 530 and they are going to run some of the first half with us!! 

Today was dedicated to Luann Keyes.
Luann and her husband Terry hosted me and Susan last night. I mentioned them in yesterday's blog but didn't yet tell you part of their story. Luann is a two time breast cancer survivor. She was diagnosed first in 2008. She had gone in for her normal annual check up and they had discovered a lump in her left breast. She said that her doctor had asked to do follow up examinations and she thought nothing of it at the time. Even up to the day she walked in and was told she had breast cancer she was not in the slightest bit concerned. Cancer hadn't even crossed her mind. Luann then scheduled a lumpectomy and began chemo treatment. She said that the first treatment went well and she had thought to herself that it was easy! Not a problem... However, after the fourth treatment of "Devil's Blood"(she says it's called that because its a red liquid) she got deathly ill. The night after the treatment, her temperature spiked and wouldn't come back down. She went to the ER around 10pm with a temperature of 103 and wasn't admitted into a room until almost 2am! Luann said that everyone who came to visit had to be completely covered. Her blood cell count was so low - zero white blood cells and very little red ones. 
Sitting there at their counter listening to her story brought tears to my eyes. Luann told Susan and I how she felt when she was laying there in the hospital. She said she felt so awful that at that point she didn't care if she lived or died. She was done fighting and just wanted everything to end. Her health improved and she went home Sunday evening. Her treatments were all pushed back due to the hospital incident. Luann said that in the summer of 2009 she was finished and felt well. 
At a 6 month check up her doctor called with a concern again. The cancer was back. Same breast. Luann said she had enough the first time around and was not going to go through it again. She told us that she would never wish chemo even on her worst enemy. She decided to have a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. It has now been 5 years since treatment began for Luann and the Keyes family. 

Susan and I both ran for Mrs. Keyes today. We had invited her and Mr. Keyes both to the dedication circle but Mrs. Keyes couldnt make it because it was so early in the morning. They told us that the one thing cancer leaves behind forever is the feeling of being lethargic. And Susan and I kept her up very late talking. This morning Terry said that he was impressed his wife stayed up so late. 
Thank you to the Keyes family for welcoming us into your home. We run for people like you. I do hope to stay in touch. I will be praying for your family. Thanks for the support and well wishes for our trip! 

Day 4: Josie Toochin

Today we ran from Ely, NV to Cedar City, UT.
I ran another 16 miles! Whooo!! So my total is now at 65 miles in 4 days!

example scenery pic from outside Ely, NV

Today's scenery was similar to yesterday's flat desert-y segments and some uphill mountains. I think they were the back end of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. I was in Van #1 again. Our first 40 miles covered the mountain and our second 40 miles was more flat. It was a good way to end our 16 miles. However, today was a really rough day for most of our runners. One was too injured to run so our van had to cut out one of the groups in the rotation and his partner joined other pairs to finish up her running. Only 4 people out of our 10 person group finished the full 16! The other van (with 11 people) cut everyones miles to 14 instead of finishing the 16.... Nicole and Kim L. are going to talk to our head person in Baltimore and see about moving the mileage down to 12-13; that's what we all originally had signed up for.
Tomorrow we may be running less than 16 miles to see how it goes. As a team, we just want to stay healthy. If putting our bodies through 96 miles a week is making runners unable to perform then we have to change it so that we will make it to Baltimore.

Today there were a lot of exciting things that happened too! I hit above 60 miles :) (65 is my total now), we saw a coyote and some antelopes! There were many signs warning drivers of roaming cattle and some hitchhiker prohibited zones....
We also crossed into UTAH!!!! Two states complete! And we crossed into Mountain Time! There's 4 time zones in America and we have completely crossed one :)

After our running, we went to the aquatics center in Cedar City, UT. We got to shower!!! (since i hadnt in over 48 hours) and i got to float around their lazy river with Molly and Kim B. and sit in the hot tub for like 5 minutes. Then we all dispersed to go stay at houses in town. Susan and I are staying the night at Mr. and Mrs. Keye's house tonight. They had dinner ready and waiting for us when we arrived! It was so so yummy! Angel hair pasta, broccoli, chicken, and Alfredo sauce with asparagus and salad. Then they took us out to see their town and showed us the cancer center here and told us all about the special days cedar city has. They took us to a great shaved ice shack too. You'll hear more about them tomorrow! 

Today's run was dedicated by Bradley Baskir to Josie Toochin. 

These are the word's he had to share about Josie:

"Josie was one of most selfless people I have ever known. Everything she did was done with the widest of smiles and the greatest amount of warmth. One of the kindest, most gentle people I have ever come into contact with - not a single bad bone in her body. Completely unprompted, Josie threw me an amazing high school graduation brunch, for which I am forever grateful. If I can be half the mensch Josie was, I know I'll have done something right in my life." - Bradley Baskir

We all know people like Josie. The one person that always has a smile on their face and is always there to make our day a little brighter. The fact that Josie was diagnosed with cancer and could still be that smiley friend that lifted other's spirits shows us how we need to really appreciate the good things (including health) that we are blessed with. This run is definitely making me realize that more and more. So here's to Josie - thanks for pushing me on to finish my miles today! 

Day 3: Leon Eydel

Today we ran from Fallon, NV to Ely, NV. I ran 16 miles: total is now 49 miles!

I was in Van 1. The frustrations from running in the hottest part of the day yesterday were eliminated by the fact that we left a lot earlier! The women at Epworth UMC started making us breakfast at 4 am so we could each by 5 and get on the road at 530. They joined us for our dedication circle and heard our chant. Cathy, one of the women there, is battling thyroid cancer. A friend of hers asked us to run for her today.
Once we got started we were fast! The road we took from Fallon to Ely was route 50. It's a historic route - The Pony Express! To think that we ran the same road (except ours is paved whereas years ago it was dirt...) that mail was transported on is amazing! A horse runs faster than us though.... This is me and my running partner, Maeve, by the sign:

Today was hard! Our van did very well though; everyone stayed positive and encouraging of one another. The 13th mile today led us up the mountain in Austin, NV. That was killer! Then we had 3 miles to finish our days running and it was downhill. 

Upon arriving in Ely, Susan and I went out to find food. We got four pizzas and Lala found some wraps from a diner. Tonight we also had a team "pow wow" in which many tears were shed but we grew closer as a team and stronger as a family. I think we are all very sore/tight right now and there needs to be a lot of stretching before heading out again tomorrow at 530! Im currently drinking a bottle full of electrolytes...

Today's run was dedicated to Leon Eydel. Leon is the grandfather of one of my Alpha Phi sorority sisters. Here are the words Esther had to share about him:

 





My grandfather, Leonid Eydel, passed away from lung cancer on January 14, 2012, only two months after his diagnosis.  He was 80 years old, but his love for life made him a young man at heart.  He taught me the true meaning of positivity, optimism, and never giving up hope in the midst of life’s struggles.  He was greatly loved by all who knew him as his radiance could light up any room and his charm and cheerfulness could brighten anyone’s bad day.  He remained positive and hopeful until the very last day of his life and demonstrated by example that life is meant to be lived and enjoyed.  In honor of his great life, I would like to live mine exactly as he did: deliberately, doing only that which brings happiness, and never taking a moment for granted.

Esther- I will always be here to support you. Everyone- even when people don't know you, they are there. This morning when I told my team who I was running for they all were able to have Leon on their minds. There's one girl on our team that's never known anyone with cancer. She's a great example of a stranger that cares. Never give up hope. Always stay strong. 

Love you girl! AOE

Day 2: Gene and Trevor

This days running was dedicated to Gene Guldenpfennig and Trevor Wuth

Today our 4kforcancer team began our run from El Dorado, CA and we ended in Fallon, NV. We woke up at 5:45 and had complementary breakfast <3 then we did our dedication circle and cheer and were off to running! 

I was in Van #2 today so we took the second and fourth 40 mile segments. We split todays miles into 4 segments because the first half was all uphill to Lake Tahoe and the second half was all down hill to Fallon, NV. Unfair for the team with the 80 mile uphill stretch huh? So we changed it up a bit. We will probably keep this plan for the rest of the trip because it gives people a longer break in the middle of the day to digest some food before running again.

Today I ran with Susan Lee. She's the girl from WashU that I blogged about before the trip started. You know, the amazing artist... Amanda Jean also joined us in running. Her knee has been acting up a lot so it's good for us to be a triplet. Here's a picture of us with one of our amazing views of Lake Tahoe
! :)

Once we got through our 8 miles each up over the mountain and down to South Lake Tahoe City, our van moved on to our second segment of miles. During the drive we got to roll out our muscles and eat lunch. I had a chicken breast left over from Uncle Dale's. Susan and I shared it and shredded it up onto a roll to make ourself sandwiches. YUMMMM!!!

The next segment of miles was one straight long shot running into Fallon, NV. Our team ran right up to our host's door. We stayed the night at Epworth United Methodist Church. The women there were kind enough to feed us dinner and they're getting up at 4 am tomorrow to make breakfast before we head out!

Today's Running was dedicated to two people:
At the age of 56, my Aunt Lisa's father, Gene Guldenpfennig, passed away 16 years ago today. He was struggling against pancreatic cancer. Aunt Lisa said that they diagnosed her father saying there was nothing they could do to prevent the disease from taking his life. Two months later Gene passed on. Aunt Lisa said that her favorite memories of her father are the times that she was able to just hang out and talk with him. She misses him in special moments - like graduations and marriages. Aunt Lisa knows that her father would be so happy now that Michael has graduated high school. Gene always told his wife to make sure all the kids (speaking of his grandchildren) got through school. Aunt Lisa took off work to spend time with her father and help to take care of him the last few weeks of his life. She remembers the time that they all went camping. She said he had a great time near the water in his wheelchair. To Gene - today was tough, but i know you fought hard and so did I. 

Today was also dedicated to a 14 year old boy that lives in Fallon, NV named Trevor Wuth. On Facebook, Patti Anderson reached out to me and asked me to run for Trevor. I had never met her before... But I asked for his story and was very touched and inspired. Trevor's father sent me some words:
"On September 24, 2012, just three weeks before his fourteenth birthday, Trevor Wuth was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). ALL is the most common form of childhood Leukemia. In the months following his diagnosis, Trevor, an 8th grader at Churchill County Middle School, has responded well to the variety of chemotherapy treatments that are standard for children with ALL. His treatment protocol calls for an initial four phases of intense chemotherapy, followed by approximately three years of maintenance chemo treatments. Trevor should finish the fourth phase by late June of 2013 and then begin his three years of maintenance. Trevor is the son of Tim and Shayne Wuth. He has two older siblings: Bradyn Wuth, a 2007 graduate of Churchill County High School (CCHS); and Mackenzie Wuth, a 2010 graduate of CCHS. Trevor loves sports. He has played football, basketball, and baseball on youth sports teams here in Fallon—his favorite sport is baseball. Though the road has been difficult, Trevor is fighting hard, and in God's strength he is staying strong through this battle." - Mr. Wurth
Some of our team went to visit Trevor and his family. To see a boy that smiled as big as he did and continues to want to be a normal 14 year old even though he goes through so many difficult times with his treatment was incredible. Trevor couldn't get too close to us. His immune system is completely down and he could get sick by being introduced to germs he hasn't become used to. Trevor's dad told us the story of Trevor's diagnosis and updated us on the latest news. Today Trevor started a new treatment - i assume this is the fourth phase that may have been started a little later than planned. They told us about how Trevor played baseball this year because he really really wanted to and he very quickly become sick. This sickness turned out to be whooping cough. It's been about 10 weeks now and he is still recovering.
It's stories like these that keep us inspired and running each day. When our legs get tired and we want to stop running, we have to think about who's names are written on our calves. Our legs are what gives us our strength. We just hope to give patients and their loved ones support too. 

Day 1: Raymond Hulsing

Back foot in the bay - front will be in the harbor in MD

So sorry I couldn't blog yesterday... but here's the blog just a day late:

Wooohooo! Today was our first day of running! we woke up at 5, packed our vans and had a little for breakfast and then we met at Crissy Field to learn our ceremony and our amazing team cheer! After talking to Ryan, the founder of 4kforcancer, our team ran the first 3.5 miles of our journey across the Golden Gate Bridge together.

Running partners for the first day! 

 Then we separated into our two groups and my group moved forward to cover our miles while the other van covered the first section of miles. We paused our running in Sacramento to present a scholarship to Kim Schmidt for her outstanding commitment and support to her father throughout his cancer treatments and for following her academic strive and continuing to do the best she can during her family's hardships. From Sacramento to El Dorado Hills, one van decided to finish those miles. I ran 4.5 more miles totaling the day at 16.5 miles.

In El Dorado, my Uncle Dale invited my entire team out to eat at his house before calling it a night. His family literally made our day - lifting our spirits by the encouragement (and food) they gave us. :) It was so delicious we even ate it for lunch today!! 

Today's running was dedicated to my grandpa, Raymond Hulsing.
My Uncle Donald Hulsing and his son Michael shared some of their memories about Ray with me to share with you all today. Both of them said that when they first found out about Grandpa's diagnosis that they were shocked and very sad. We all knew his health was declining but none of us knew he would go in for a doctors appointment and come back with the news of terminal cancer. Michael's favorite memories with Grandpa were going to the farmer's market with him every week and seeing the smile on his face when Mike helped him do something at the house. Michael said that they were always pretty simple things that Grandpa used to do without needing assistance but due to his health he could no longer get it done. Donald said that the biggest thing he missed about his father was just going over to visit anytime he wanted. He said that now after work he just goes home instead of getting to enjoy a beer or two with his dad. They both said that they often went over to the house to visit Raymond but after the diagnosis that it seemed like they went there more and more.

Grandpa was living alone because Grandma Hulsing had passed away a few years before and all the kids were out of the house living with their families' or starting their own lives. There are 12 kids in the Hulsing family (one being my father) and they all live in separate area's of the states and one lives in Japan. I will never forget the last few days of my Grandpa's life. He was on bed rest and my father and sister and I went up to Iowa and missed work/school. Some of my Aunts and Uncles were already there spending the little time their dad had left by his bedside. As a 17 year old at the time, I can remember thinking how awful and sad it would be to be losing one of my parents and hoping that each of my siblings made it home to say goodbye. Daniel was the last Hulsing to arrive from his long flights from Japan. Once all the kids were home they all circled around in the family room Grandpa was now living out of and said the Lord's Prayer. Within a few hours Grandpa breathed his last breath. I felt like it was sort of peaceful. In a way I could sense that he had held on for all his family to be beside him and know he was ok.

4k silliness from the west coast 

Check out my facebook profile for more pictures from the first day!!

Day Zero

Mom, Dad and I at the Louisville airport! 

Hey readers!!!! Today is the day! I woke up at 00:45 PST and my parents and sister, Bugs, drove me to the airport an hour and a half away to be there in time for my 06:00 EST flight to Chicago. Then I had an hour and a half layover and ate a delicious hot deli sub before my 5 hour flight to San Francisco! (where I landed at 11:20 PST and my entire team was waiting for me <3 )
The flight, besides the length, was great! I got to talk about the 4kforcancer to the gentlemen sitting beside me. The younger of the two men was in the Hyatt Hotel business and when I told him about how we are staying in churches and community buildings, he said that he wished we had met earlier and he would have set us up in Hyatt's across the country! *wishful thinking* But for tonight we are staying in the basement and nursery of a church on one of San Fran's many hills! :) The other man sitting next to me was a marathon and relay runner himself. He really enjoyed hearing all about how our run was planned and how we will progress from host city to host city. He gave me some ideas of where I should run tonight - if our team chooses to loosen up before calling it a night - but we decided not to do that.... Tomorrow's 05:00 wake-up call will come early enough!

Kim LaBarge

Upon arriving at the SF airport and meeting many of my teammates, we drove back and forth across San Francisco all afraid of the brakes in our 15 person van as we scooted up mountain like hills... The fear become more and more real as we heard stories about their 4 day trip driving out to SF and how they hit a toll booth and drove an entire day with their hood popped, but all those stories deserve a blog of their own...  And then we met at Crissy Field for some team bonding activities (include hitting one another with pool toys and running on top of each other) and driving lessons.

Once we completed our training we went back to our host for the evening and talked about how our run tomorrow will go. We went over the relay system that we will usually follow. Tomorrow will be different than most days for several reason.

Most obviously: IT'S DAY ONE! 

Second: we will be battling with the San Fran Marathon for space to run across the Golden Gate Bridge.

Third: we have a check ceremony at 15:00! Yeah that's right :) as a team we will be presenting a well deserving student a $2500 scholarship from The Ulman Cancer Fund! 

So, day zero is about to come to an end. Happy early fathers day to all the wonderful fathers out there! We appreciate everything you do for us. To those of you that have a child on our 4kforcancer team, thanks especially for your support! 

Day 1 will be here soon!

All of our brand new amazing shoes! Wait for the "shitty shoe" picture in a month! 

CANNOT WAIT FOR TOMORROW! 

5 days left.... time to pack?

Here's the driving route!!! 

Today some of my teammates began the drive from Baltimore to San Francisco! I leave in 5 days to fly out there to meet them!!! :) I am so excited!

I got a call from the 4kforcancer coordinator. He is planning on picking me and Susan Lee up from the airport on Saturday. As I meet people I want to share them with all of my readers. So we will start with Susan since she is the only person I know on my team.

Susan Lee just finished her first year at Washington University in STL (which is where I go for those of you that didn't know....) Susan was the last person to join our team. I was talking about my summer with my friend Nate during our art class and Susan was sitting nearby. She heard all about my journey that I was so looking forward to and she was intrigued. I told her we still had space on our team and two days later at our next art class she said she wanted to join! I was so happy when she told me she had already spoken to her parents about it and wanted to know what to do next. During our 15 minute break from studio I emailed our head contact in the 4kforcancer offices and told him about Susan! All she had to do was send in an application and have a phone interview. She was in!!

Susan is an amazing artist --> check it out! I'm not sure if you'll be able to see these since you may not be her friend on Facebook -  i know ... i just facebook stalked her.... 

Oil Paint

Acryllic on Canvas

Prismacolor marker

Oil Paint

Graphite

All of these amazing pieces are hers!

Point of this little blurb about Susan is to express how excited I am for this summers experience! I can only imagine that each of my teammates will be as talented and as great of a person as Susan is.
I look forward to meeting everyone and running this journey across America together.

5 days and counting.... 

With that being said, today I have done a lot to prepare for my trip. I started a google doc that organizes the dedicated days my supporters have donated. I emailed people inviting them to dedicate a day to a loved one. During the run, my blogs will include how the days run went, where our team is at, who we met, and then some blurbs about who that day was dedicated to.
I still have days open for dedications and I would love to honor you and a loved one by making it their day. If you're interested --> shoot me a facebook message or text me and I will tell you how to make it happen! 

As a team this week we wanted to write about what one item we just couldn't leave behind. I've thought about this a ton! Because I can't leave some things: like everything I need for running, a toothbrush, items for showering, some form of money, somehow to contact everyone and be able to blog... 

But then it hit me! While I was going house to house in a neighborhood nearby, a woman donated and wanted to hear more about what we are going to be doing. My mom was with me and came up closer to the house when she realized me and the woman were having a longer conversation. This lady told me stories about her relatives that have cancer and about this little boy the UK Nerlen Noels is encouraging during his fight against leukemia. He was quoted on Kyle Tucker's sport's blog saying, “I mean, because God blessed me. God blessed me with my God-given talents. It wasn’t too long ago when I was one of these little kids that looked up to somebody as a role model. When I would see someone that I looked up to, maybe I would’ve wanted him to say hi to me or come to visit me. That’s the way I look at it. You try to give back to kids who aren’t as fortunate as myself. Anything to make a kids smile or make their day better that’s going through a tough time in their life, whether it’s through cancer or leukemia or anything that’s life threatening – or just anything really that makes them feel down – I just want to do my best to give back to them when kids are not as fortunate as I am."
After telling me about her experiences with cancer and the warriors she knows she told me to wait up for one more second before moving on down the road. Mom and I stood outside and waited for her to come back. When the woman emerged from her garage she had this small red and white token like fabric thing. She handed it over to me and said she and some women at her church made them (crochet) and she wanted me to have it. It's a red heart she said. I told her I would run with it everyday and thanked her for keeping me and my team in her prayers. 

So as for which item I just cannot forget at home: it's the red heart. Other things I can buy and replace or borrow. But this, the wishes and prayers from the people that support me, I cannot replace and want to respect. 

-signing off now. thanks for reading and thanks for your support! 
http://4kforcancer.org/profiles/victoria-hulsing/