Eeekkk!!! I still can’t quite believe I get to say this…I’m running the 2026 New York City Marathon on November 1st with Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation! And I am feeling so emotional in the best way possible! This has been a dream of mine for so long! And now, not only do I get to run my first 26.2 just after turning 26, in a city that has always felt like magic to me, but I get to do it for something so much bigger than myself! I am fundraising for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, whose mission is to change the lives of children with cancer through funding impactful research, raising awareness, and supporting families through unimaginably difficult journeys. Their work directly fuels hope…hope for better treatments, hope for more time, and ultimately, hope for a cure. 

This cause is deeply personal to me. Since 2019, Cincinnati Children’s has been more than just a workplace; it has been the place that shaped me into the nurse and person I am today! I started as a volunteer in the playroom, became a patient care assistant, completed my role transition and internship, and now have the honor of working as a nurse on the Oncology/Hematology unit since 2023! While researching more on ALSF, I learned ALSF has funded critical research grants right at Cincinnati Children’s, which made this feel like one of those full-circle invisible string moments!

I am running in honor of my Cincinnati Children’s CBDI crew! For the way they show up day after day and turn even the impossible into moments of positivity and hope. Every single shift, I am surrounded by the most incredible team who put their heart into everything they do! Nurses, providers, child life specialists, PT/OT, educators, managers & leadership, pharmacists, music therapists, chaplains, dietitians, social workers, care managers, PCAs, HUCs, and even our therapy pups (and of course so many more awesome team members!). It takes an entire village to care for these patients and families, and I am endlessly inspired by the compassion, strength, and dedication each team member brings. And I'm so lucky to call this crew coworkers, but even more lucky to call them life long friends, role models, a shoulder to cry on, a cafeteria buddy, and simply put, just amazing humans! So this one is for you!

I am running in honor of science, research, and funding for pediatric cancer! I have seen firsthand how much hope lives in new treatments, clinical trials, and the breakthroughs that come from people who refuse to stop searching for answers. Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation is the largest independent childhood cancer charity in the U.S., and has raised over $300 million and funded more than 1,500 research projects across nearly 150 institutions. Childhood cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children, and research remains underfunded, which is why this mission matters so deeply! Running for ALSF means running for progress and for a future where more children get to grow up and achieve their dreams!

And at the heart of it all, I am running for my patients and families.

For the patients and families who face battles no one should ever have to fight, yet do so with a strength and light that I can’t even put into words. For the patients who have forever changed me…their laughter, their tears, their resilience, their courage. For the patients we have lost. They will always be with me. Their lives were filled with meaning, and their stories continue to bring purpose, love, and strength into everything I do! For the families who have trusted us in their most vulnerable moments and shown grace in the face of the unknown.

They are the reason.

They are why I show up on the hard days. They are why 26.2 miles feels small in comparison to what they endure. And they are why I am so passionate about raising funds for research, because every step forward matters in the fight to cure childhood cancer!

If you feel called to support, I would be so over-the-moon grateful! Whether that’s through a donation, sharing this page, sending encouragement and/or tips (as I’ll be a first-time marathoner woohoo), or even just following along on this journey! Every bit of support truly means more than I can express!

When life gives you lemons, you make a difference, you love and dream big, and you go run a dang marathon!  🍋🎗️