Post NYC Marathon...My Marathon Story

I am officially a MARATHONER!!! It moved me. It inspired me. It empowered me. The NYC Marathon presented one of the greatest challenges of my life. I didn’t realize my path would lead me to this, but I’m so excited that it did! If I were to run a marathon, you gotta go big, am I right?! New York was the right fit. Not selected in the entry lottery, I decided that the challenge to train and complete should include a greater cause. My crazy idea became reality in March when I joined Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation’s charity racing team, Team Lemon, with a $3000 fundraising goal.

Training started 18 weeks ago in July and it wasn’t always easy finding the time to run with 3 kids under 8 in the house. A challenge of its own. But it got done.

Based on my prior half marathons and training, I set the goal to complete in 3 hours, 45 minutes. I don’t know if this was realistic or insane, but they make you declare an estimated finish. So it was.

Fundraising for ALSF was an amazing experience, highlighted by the two lemonade stands we hosted. Seeing old faces and meeting new ones, hearing stories about marathons, kids challenged by cancer and everyone’s love for Alex’s cause was truly humbling. There was an outpouring of support via my personal fundraising page, Stacey Runs NYC. Donations poured in and certain giving levels earned dedication runs and coveted  marathon mile sponsorships commemorated by a race day tattoo. My village stepped up with generous support to this great cause. I knew that the impossible was possible. Determination, preparation, sacrifice and grit went into this training. I am beyond amazed that together we raised over $3800 for ALSF through the generosity of family, friends, neighbors and strangers! We provided a huge boost to find new cures for childhood cancer. It makes my heart feel so full that we have made an impact in the lives of sick children.

In somewhat of a blur, Marathon Weekend had arrived. With Nate and the kids in tow, we rolled into NYC and the energy was electric from the start. We attended the Marathon Eve dinner at the pavilion with our dear friends Musi, Danny and Bianca. The atmosphere inside was off the charts. It validated that this race was the real deal. I’m so lucky to have the Salernos join my support crew in NYC. I’m entirely grateful for your cheers and generosity. I was fueled and ready to try a sleep, especially with the kids sleeping in the same room. I surprisingly logged 7 hours of sleep.

4 alarms were set for 4:20am on race day morning. I got up and felt fantastic. I had to mentally prepare for my assigned start at 10:40am. This is not in my comfort zone to wait to run. I’m usually laced up, out the door and pounding the pavement. After a speedy bus convoy trip, I arrived at the start village on Staten Island at 6am. I passed time by walking around, sipping on some DD coffee, munching on a bagel and chatting with a spectrum of runners from Norway and Italy. I drank more coffee and sucked down a GU (carb gel) before I lined up in my corral. As I walked up to the start line, I faced what I thought maybe the biggest challenge of the race, the Verrazano Bridge. I’m a land lover, so this was going to be a mind game in of itself. This ginormous, long bridge had a nice incline for the first mile. In the end it didn’t matter because I was so pumped up. I actually quite enjoyed it. The cannon boomed, FrankSinatra’s “New York” continued to play and glided over the starting line. Running on Staten Island was short lived as the sea of runners crossed the bridge into Brooklyn. The endless wall of cheering fans was incredible. Brooklyn knows how to show up and shout out! I spotted my cheer squad at Mile 6 to propel me along. The next 11 miles flew by and I was cruising. Because I have a running watch I turned my phone on Airplane mode to save some battery life. This also prevented my watch from exploding with any distracting text messages, email alerts and calls. Because of this I missed Nate’s updates about where they’d be. I expected to see them around Mile 17 and grew a bit concerned when I didn’t spot their yellow flag waving high in the air. It turns out Nate says I was too fast for him and the kids to catch up. They had to travel a 20 blocks by foot to cross over to the north bound subway.

The wall. For some it happens at Mile 20, for me it was Mile 22, where I had to stop and stretch my legs. I was afraid if I kept going I’d get hurt. I stopped for a minute, then slowly got back on pace. I was in pain and my legs were aching, even though I mentally felt great. Then at mile 24, I spotted our yellow flag off the left on the narrow road in Central Park. When I saw Nate and the kids I got a surge of energy to finish strong. I stopped for a quick hug and kiss and suddenly I didn’t feel the pain anymore. I breezed to the finish line with packed bleachers cheering for me and the hundreds of other runners crossing. My finish time...3:45:07. Total satisfaction. Proud. Training pays off. I did it.

But not sure if I’d do it again. Maybe.

Then the pain returned. After a hour I was reunited with Nate and the kids and we taxied back to the hotel and I jumped in the tub for a recovery bath.

I’m back to feeling good today and pondering what’s next. There will be goals.

I’m typically modest but this became a very public journey when I decided to run a marathon for charity. Thanks to Nate for pushing me take on this elite race, pushing me to crush my fundraising goals and pushing me to share this insight with you all. Thank you for being a part of the journey and sending your love, positive vibes and charitable contributions.

In addition to my own accomplishment, I am so proud to have raced the same course that Shalane Flanagan made history on as the first American woman winner in 40 years! First time in my lifetime! Simply awesome!

A special thanks to Nolan Painting, Giant Supermarket and Acme Markets for their generosity along the way. They are great supporters to the community!

Life is short, run fast.

XOXO

Stacey

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My fundraising story...

“I like to run, it makes me smile; I think I’ll go another mile.” This quote always stayed with me, but there’s no better way to prove it than completing a full marathon. I’ll be running my first marathon, the NYC Marathon, for Team Lemon this November. Team Lemon supports Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, an awesome Philly-area charity dedicated to funding childhood cancer research for new treatments and cures. As a part of Team Lemon, I’ve committed to raise $3000 by race day on November 5th. The challenge to complete my first marathon, raise a nice chunk of money for charity and face my anxiety to run over several large bridges pales in comparison to the challenges faced each day by children battling cancer. I’m asking for both your moral support (as I train and ultimately hit the streets of NYC) and your financial support to help me reach my goal. To kick things off, swing by my first lemonade stand fundraiser on Saturday, August 19th. I’ll happily accept donations on my personal Team Lemon webpage: (https://www.alexslemonade.org/mypage/1337444). For every $62 donation, I will dedicate 1 marathon mile to you or your family and tattoo it on my arm for race day (a temporarily tattoo, of course)! With a $31 donation, I’ll dedicate one of my training runs to you and send you a pic of something beautiful I see. All donations go directly to ALSF and are tax-deductible.

As a Haverford Township mom to three healthy kids, I know I am truly blessed. Unfortunately, childhood cancer affects way too many kids, including 250,000+ new cases each year. Unlike adult cancers, research into childhood cancer cures are vastly underfunded. Together, our donations will help us get one step closer to cures. Let’s do this! Thank you for your love and support!!! XOXO Stacey