my story

I thought I hung up my shoes for good. I swore I would never wear a pair of spandex EVER again but due to unfortunate events I felt like I had too and heres my story. I lost my dad on March 25, 2008 and lost my uncle Billy 6 months later. Its been a pretty crappy year to say the least. After I lost them I had a strong urge to change my life, fear nothing, and conquer all type of attitude. Lets face it, we are not guaranteed another day so why not create awareness, support others, raise money and defy all odds in memory if them.

Now, in all honestly....if I really thought this through I could have come up with 100 other fundraising activities instead of running 26.2 miles but I go with what I know. So I started researching ways to get into the 2009 NYC marathon.

OPTION 1: Lets face it...I am not a runner. We have established this before. My runners high is being able to have a pitcher of margaritas after a long run and not gain a pound, thats my runners high. Anyways like I was saying, one of the ways you can get an automatic IN is by joining NYRR (New York Road Runners Club), run 9 qualifying races and BAM! You are in! ummmm...right.....moving on.

OPTION 2: The other way you can get in is through charity. To be honest, I have gone to the NYC marathon site more than a dozen times and NEVER saw this charity when I found Freds Team. Freds Team supports The Aubrey Fund for Pediatric Cancer Research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (say that 3 times fast!). They help support doctors and researchers with the tools they need to increase survival rates for people who have cancer. Once I saw this, it sent chills down my spine...It was a sign. You see my uncle Billy died of Cancer and my dads name is Fred.

I know the challenges I face are going to be difficult...the spandex, the long runs, the injuries, the spandex, the cat calls, the looking healthy girl comments and lets just say the spandex again for consistency sake but in all seriousness this is for my uncle Billy who died of cancer and for my amazing father Fred who died of septic shock. Its all so silly what we complain about, dont you think? What we need to be worrying about are our loved ones and the many people we dont know that have cancer and have to live with the pain and the sadness 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week. So lets help support more.

I am putting on my running shoes for the cause and asking you for your help. Please support me as a Freds Team Member by making a donation to my effort.

LOVE ALWAYS...Liss.p.s. keep coming back, I will have updates, new photos, blog updates and much more!