Kellie Coleman: Why I Run

I have never been one to enjoy running...ask anyone who knows me. =)  For the past three years it seems so much has happened, one thing after another, that eventually you stop and question yourself. You do things you wouldn’t normally do.

I was pregnant with my now two and a half year old son when my daddy was diagnosed with a soft tissue sarcoma in his right leg. On September 22, 2008 my son was born, and 3 days later we found out daddy’s cancer had spread to his lungs. The following week he was given 6 months to live and sure enough, on March 17, 2009 daddy died. So fast it took him, and my son will only get to know him through the pictures that we show him.

You try to move forward with your life...you try to put back pieces that are broken and figure how to go on with all that has been taken from you and figure out who you are in the world without this person in it, and that takes a long time I have found.  But the days go by anyway whether you want them to or not and you have to keep living.

Jump forward a bit and l found myself reading a blog in January written by Sarah Farnell- "Peppy." Everyone started running this marathon in honor of her sister Payton who lost her battle to carcinoid cancer in 2007 at the way too young age of 29. She wrote in her blog "Perhaps that honesty can help someone else who is going through the process of grieving. Or the process of living." And I realized as I read her words it was time for me to stop putting all my focus on the past three years and start putting more focus on what is to come.

I realized I needed to do something big to keep me motivated and to help me actually keep in the process of moving forward. So I decided to run. Run away all my stress and let go of my grief.  Run with my sister Erin who I love so much. With Peppy, who I am so honored to run with - thank you for being such a wonderful friend to my sister. And with the rest of the team, who I get strength from knowing are all out there training just as hard as me.

But most importantly I am running to prove to myself that I am not broken. That life has not beat me down and that I can still get up to do something bigger than myself even when it hurts.  Training for this half marathon has not been easy so far, but I can already feel myself getting stronger after 3 weeks and that’s a nice feeling.

I am so excited to be a part of this marathon experience, and to raise money for such an important cause- Carcinoid cancer is a rare type of neuroendocrine cancer and every penny raised for the Caring for Carcinoid Foundation goes directly to cancer research. These rare cancers like sarcoma and carcinoid need all the help they can get in finding a cure. Please donate if you can and thank you so much for stopping by my page!
-Kellie