This week we each continued on through our training for the Traverse City Bayshore Marathon.  Whether in the mountains of Utah, the sidewalks of Michigan State University, the lakefront of Chicago or the humble roads of Marshall, Michigan, each of us are becoming more inspired by the story of Alex and the change we can be a part of.  These long runs, where each of us are left alone with our thoughts, create a great platform for us to reflect on many parts of life.  My run this past Saturday got me thinking…

baby steps.

Running is a freeing activity, but it’s not the type of freedom a baby can experience from the moment it’s born.  It takes time for a young child to understand what “arms” and “legs” are and how to coordinate the movements of these new limbs.  It takes trial and error as that child attempts to go from crawling to standing.   As that child holds onto the sides of a coffee table, holding itself up for the first time on it’s own, it gains new perspective on the world.  Life once confined to the belly, has been expanded life on two feet.  With this comes the training of the vestibular systems to counteract gravity, and with that, comes balance.  Also comes the coordination of hip and knee flexion of one leg in concert with extension of the other so that forward forward motion can be initiated.   This is all combined with the visual system to account for roadblocks, the cardiovascular system to account for increase oxygen demands and upper extremities to supplement balance and provide insurance for when the inevitable errors in judgment happen.   When all of this is finally put together, a freedom follows like that child has never experienced…

running

and for those first few days and months, that child will hardly cease to run in every direction, away from every person and into as much trouble as possible.  And it starts with baby steps.

The same baby steps it takes each of us to train for this Marathon.  We have each started at different levels, but each with the same goal of completing 26.2 miles.  It starts at a “crawling” stage with 2-3 miles at a time, but day-by-day, week-by-week, a seemingly insurmountable challenge becomes more of a molehill than a mountain.  We begin to realize what is really possible.

just like Alex did

It was baby steps that has made Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation what it is today.  Alexandra Scott took a seemingly insurmountable obstacle head on, to "help other kids, like they helped me” with courage and compassion.  What began as a single lemonade stand that raised $2000 has turned into a foundation that has raised more than $35 million in an effort to find a cure for children affected by cancer.  Baby steps turned thousands of dollars into hundreds of thousands, into millions and into what will someday be a cure.

I currently work in Neuro-Oncology on the north shore of Chicago and this past week I was inspired by that words that came from the mother of one of my patients.  As her son lay dying she looked at me and said in her thick Italian accent,

“Matt, if you have your health, you are rich.” 

She was taking a moment to remind me of what’s important in life.  She was reminding me of where I should invest my time and why.   It gave me a better perspective on why I am running these many miles (many, many, many miles) and what’s more, made me inspired to help raise money for this charity.  We, as a team, share in a desire to run for this charity so that children affected by cancer can be given back their health and feel “rich” again.  That they may again run and feel the freedom that it brings.

So please join us in our quest to raise money for this outstanding foundation started by an amazing and inspiring young girl.  Even if you only have a few dollars to give, or even just words of encouragement, remember…

baby steps…

Thank you for all your support so far,

Matt