October is all about pink! I want to take this time to just pay tribute to all the breast cancer survivors. I also want to acknowledge all of the family members that have lost someone to breast cancer. We all need to do our part to increase awareness and help find the cure for cancer. I don't know many people that have not been touched in some way by cancer. We all know people or have family members that have experienced this horrible disease. I lost my grandfather to cancer when I was young but I still remember seeing him in the hospital weak and confused. For me, that was very difficult because my grandfather was the strongest man that I knew. I recently competed and finished the sprint Spartan Race this weekend. It was very interesting to say the least. Some of the proceeds for the event went to breast cancer research. Everyone was wearing pink. I even saw a group of ladies in pink tutus running the race. If you don't know what the Spartan Race is, make sure to look it up at spartanrace.com. It is not for everyone and it makes most obstacle races like it seem easy. The sprint is about 3.6 miles of trail that consists of mud, leaves, sticks, and water. Obstacles are thrown into the mix. Some of the obstacles are crawling under barb wire, carrying a bucket of gravel up and down steep hills, throwing a spear, jumping over fire, dragging boulders, and getting out of a pit of heavy mud up to your hip. It is very intense! I didn't expect how messy and challenging the event would be. It was very special to me to finish the race. I was already signed up to do it for our Powerade Zero team but had no idea that I would be running it for dedication. Over the weekend, in fact, the day before the race my cousin passed away due to complications from breast cancer at the age of 37. I was hit head on by the breast cancer demon that plagues many women. I decided to dedicate the race to the memory of my cousin, Denise Lear. I wore a pink wristband that read "RIP Denise Lear Forever in our hearts." Although, the course was never at a point difficult enough to consider stopping, I thought of my cousin every time I slopped through dirty nasty smelly mud. Thanks to the Powerade Zero team, Ashley Bond, and Tina Franceschina for helping me complete the race. It was amazing!! My family will always remember Denise for her strength and love for her three sons. Let's all do our part and find a cure to defeat breast cancer and all other forms of cancer. Together we stand! Together we can!
To my cousin,
You will be missed
You will be forever in our heartsYou are loved
You are home!
RIP Denise Lear
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