Help michael raise money

 I spent years as a latch-key kid.  I am the oldest of four and had parents who worked long hours, but we were lucky enough that my grandparents were retiring and nearby.  I had a particularly close relationship with Pop. He really fostered my competitiveness and love for the outdoors (baseball games, fishing trips, Tyson/Holyfield fight night, scouting trips, etc.) To me, my siblings, and my cousins, he was the greatest!  

When I joined the middle school cross country team, it was Pop who’d mostly been there to pick me up from practice and races.  I continued to run throughout college- but by this time Pop wasn’t as indestructible as he once was.  Bad habits that he’d picked up during the war had led to tumors in his brain and lungs.  He was in his mid-60’s when he fought and beat cancer- but back then these treatments were brutal and took a toll on him physically.  

One race in college sticks out in my mind. It was the last race Pop came top.  My dad had brought him down to Oregon Ridge, Maryland to see me compete as a collegiate athlete.  It was cold and pouring rain.  At this point, Pop was already in a walker and unable to move very well.  He probably saw me run for a total of 10 seconds.  It was a terrible performance on my part and I didn’t like thinking about it at the time.  Now that I’m older, it resonates with me that Pop and my dad were there for what was a miserable day for everybody.  

Pop passed the following year while I was overseas and serving the US Peace Corps.  I still don’t know how I feel about being so far away from home while that was all going on, but I’m still running.  Cancer treatments have come a long way since Pop’s diagnosis.  The groundbreaking research that AACR Runners for Research program enables the American Association for Cancer Research to conduct will continue to improve life for all who are affected by cancer.   

That is why I run.