I ran in this year’s Livestrong 5k. It took me 35m and 25sec, so I run
at a turtle’s pace, but I was able to raise 18K dollars, which made me
really happy and proud.  Because I did so well, my sweet fundraising
coach Dylan, from the LAF, asked me if I would tell my story of what
spurred me to get involved.  Here is what I wrote to him:

“I don’t know if it’s really a story or more of a few events coupled
together that served as sort of a catalyst to my involvement.

I first met Lance Armstrong back in October of 07 to shoot the first Lance
“Manager” spot. I  met Doug and Bill and Higgins, all really
great, solid guys.  My first impression of Lance, as I’m sure is the
case with a lot of people, was that he has an almost palpable energy
and enthusiasm and passion that he brings to everything he does. I
honestly left that first meeting feeling somewhat embarrassed that I
wasn’t doing more with my spare time. I have 3 children and a full time
job and I fell into the personal excuses trap, a time management
argument to not be involved. Then we had to shoot another one, just
before Thanksgiving. I returned home the day before Thanksgiving and
had a couple of errands to run with my daughter. We were driving across
the Morrison bridge around 7pm that evening when we came across a
vehicle stopped in the center lane of traffic. For some inexplicable
reason, rather than going around her car, I decided to stop and see if
she needed help or a cell phone or something. As I opened my door to
get out and help her, the door to her car flew open and she raced
across the oncoming traffic and jumped up on the railing of the bridge.
I tossed my daughter my cell phone and said, call 911, which she did.
But she forgot what bridge we were on amid the stress and anxiety of
the situation so it took a little longer for the police officers to get
there. So for about 20 minutes (which seemed like an hour) I held
tightly to the back of this woman’s coat and tried to talk her out of
jumping off the bridge. I said everything from, you don’t want to do
this to, you can jump but then I’m gonna have to jump in after you and
the fall isn’t going to kill you. It’ll be really cold and you’re gonna
break something, but you’re not going to die. None of it really reached
her until I touched her hand. Then it was like all of the sudden I was
actually standing there and she could see and hear me. I guess maybe
she just needed to feel connected to someone or something. The police
did finally arrive, in time, and she was taken to a hospital for
evaluation and a 24 hour hold, I guess. I was 100% fine while I was
there talking to her, just really in ‘say anything to prevent her from
jumping’ mode, but totally collected. Then I got back to my car, the
police officer asked me to wait so she could get my name and number
just in case there was a need, and my daughter asked me if I was
alright and as I started to say yes, I just broke down. I thought how
does a person get to a place where they are so sad they want to end
their life?  The day before Thanksgiving. I felt enormously grateful
for my health and my family and my friends.
Then about 2 weeks before I
signed up for the race, 2 of my close friends each had their father
diagnosed with a different form of cancer. One of them had already lost
his mother to the disease and he’s only 30 years old. His father has
since passed away, so he is essentially an orphan at 30. A grown man,
yes, but with no parents as a sort of guidepost for the rest of his
life. That had an enormous impact on me as well. I felt really really
sad for him. My husband lost his mother 6 years ago to a really
treatable form of cancer. It was caught too late and ultimately spread
throughout her brain and body. My children were only in middle school
at the time, so they lost a grandparent before they really even got to
know her. And she was pretty great, all about the kids.  Losing a
parent or a grandparent is just heartbreaking.  My grandmother is a
survivor of colorectal cancer. I’ve had several breast lump scares, all
benign, thank god, but I’m pragmatic about that as well.

While these events might seem unrelated or dissimilar, at the heart
they are really about trying to connect or at the very minimum make an
impact with people and also about using the time the good lord gave us
on this planet to do something worthwhile. Something that would make
your children proud.  Letting the people that you care about know that
their fight is your fight and that you’ll help in any way that you can.
  The unfortunate reality is that we’ll all know someone either
personally or tangentially affected by this disease in our lifetime. I
just felt compelled to try and do what little that I could to help.
Fundraising is easy for me.  I don’t ever ask people that I work with
or friends for that matter for anything, but I am always around to
help. That dynamic affords me the luxury of asking and being heard.
 It’s not terribly complicated, I just try to give more than I take.
 I’m glad that it could benefit the LAF.”

Then he challenged me to make it to 25K by October. Because I have a
big mouth and am just slightly competitive about such things, I said,
why stop at 25K? Let’s make it an even 30K, or more.

So even if you can only afford $10 (ROB KENDALL) all the way up to $100
or more (RISWOLD) please know that anything and everything helps, and
again, I would be so appreciative for the help. I am a GREAT hugger,
and will personally hug everyone that donates.