Why I Run: Elizabeth Traugott

Why do I run?
It's that time of year again! I’m running the Country Music Half Marathon. This is the fourth year that I’ve trained with The Little Team that Could and I get excited every year. We have been raising money for The Caring for Carcinoid Foundation. This little group got started after one of my good friend’s sister, Payton, died at 29 years old of this very rare cancer. 

As a nurse I’ve seen many patients experience cancer and sometimes the job can make you me feel helpless. Raising money for the Caring for Carcinoid Foundation has helped me feel like I can make a difference in my patients’ life. By raising awareness we can help people detect cancer earlier. By raising money for research we can help create new treatments for cancer. 

Every penny donated to the Caring for Carcinoid Foundation goes directly to research. Please consider donating to this worthy cause and help us find more treatments for cancer. 

Click here to donate to The Caring For Carcinoid Foundation

-ET

Why I Run: Megan Ryan

Let’s see, why do I run? It’s now my 3^rd year as part of The Little Team that Could, and each year I think my motivation for participating has been a little bit different. The first year a crew of college friends ran in memory of Payton Farnell Graeber, the sister of The Little Team that Could’s captain and our good friend, Sarah. As you probably saw on the main page for the The Little Team that Could, Payton lost her battle to cancer at the very young age of 29, and it felt like there had to be something positive we could do in this fight against cancer.

Last year my own sister, Maura, also participated as part of The Little Team that Could, and my motivation for running had a new dimension to it. After 5 years of being in remission, our dad had a recurrence of cancer, which was deemed stage 4. Honestly, I ran out of thanksgiving for the 5 years we were so lucky to have with him (and that not all people get), hope that things would turn out well again, and fear of the unknown.

This year, while my dad’s health news continues to be good, I run not only in celebration of that news, but also in celebration of the lives of all those who have passed on and the possibility of curing this disease.

-Megan

Why I Run: Hannah Carlton

I like cookies… especially ones that can be dipped in milk.  I like warm, sunny days and bright pink on my toenails.  One thing I do not like, so much, is running long distances.  Hummm. What?  You did just sign up for a half-marathon, didn’t you? Touché, friend.  I sure did.  But, this is different.  This is me running for a cause greater than cookies (gasp!).  This is me running for the memory of a very dear woman and raising money for the research of a very noxious cancer.  Carcinoid cancer is considered rare, but that didn’t matter to Payton or any of the other thousands of people who were diagnosed.  What matters now, is that we are trying to do something about it.  The Little Team That Could is raising money to help find a cure for Carcinoid cancer.  We are strapping on running shoes and taking it to the streets of Nashville on April 30^th at 7am… oh dear!  Anything you could donate to help us achieve our fundraising goal would be amazing.  We accept all amounts of love and support, from $5 -$500, so please give what you can to this cause, as every penny will make it to funding research for the Foundation.  Help us out, and on race day, I’ll be toasting a cookie in your honor as I cross the finish line!

 

Hugs,

Hannah

Why I Run: Brent Graeber

I’ve now run one full marathon and three half marathons.  If someone would have told me that I would be running just five years ago, I would have said they were crazy.  The reason I would have thought that is simple, I hated to run.  It wasn’t that I didn’t like it, I hated it.  I loved playing sports growing up like tennis, basketball and baseball, but whenever the coach wanted me to run then I was out.  Maybe it’s because I wasn’t built like a runner nor did I have the mental capacity for it because running takes forever.  I can’t believe how long it takes me to go only one mile much less anything longer. 

So if I don’t like running, then why do I it?  There are many reasons.  One is that I run to raise money for the Caring for Carcinoid Foundation.   Every penny goes straight to cancer research and I desperately want them to find a cure.  When Payton, my wife, lost her life to atypical carcinoid cancer in 2007, I went into a funk that I hope people don’t have to go through.  Hopefully raising money will help find a cure.  This brings me to my second reason for running.  It takes time.  Payton’s sister once said she measures things in time, before Payton got sick and after, before she died and after.  For me, my life was about time as well.  Time that I didn’t know what to do with.  Running became something for me that took up time.  I still didn’t like running, but I liked that for three hours I would be somewhere listening to music and escaping my thoughts.  It helped that I was slow because if I was fast, I would have been done quicker and that wasn’t my goal.  My goal was to take time.  13.1 miles, no problem I have the time for that, I even want to train for that.

This last reason I simply call “the finish”.  There is a sense of accomplishment, joy, relief, happiness, sadness, pain and pride all rolled into one when I cross a finish line.  There’s always a push that gets me to that line, like the first year for me it was my loved ones who were there at the race.  Without words, but in my thoughts they pushed me to the end.  I’ve always wanted to tell people that, but I got caught up in “the finish”.  All of my half marathons I have raised money for the Caring for Carcinoid Foundation and they were in Nashville at the Country Music Marathon.  My only full was last December in Las Vegas.  This was the only time I didn’t raise money.  I took this one event and ran further than I ever thought my body would take me.  I opened up avenues of emotions that I didn’t think that I had.  In the end, I was in pain, I was happy, I was in tears, and couldn’t express my emotions.  Maybe the lyrics of the song playing at the time could.  It was a Ben Folds Five song called Magic.  How that song came up after exactly five hours and twenty-five minutes of running, I’ll never know.  It wasn’t planned.  The lyrics are “You're the magic that holds the sky up from the ground.  You're the breath that blows these cool winds 'round.  Trading places with an angel now.”  Payton was the push that got me to the finish and to have that play when I crossed put something into words that I simply cannot.

I ask that you simply take any money you can spare this year and donate to the Caring for Carcinoid Foundation, even if it’s only one dollar.  If you are unable to donate, please think happy thoughts for The Little Team That Could as we make our way through the streets of Nashville on April 30^th.  And know that I’ll do everything in my power to finish the 26.2 miles and push forward as I know my will knees hurt, my right shoulder will sting, I’ll get a cramp on the right side and probably even have a little pain above my right ankle, I will push slowly on.  I know what the finish brings me.  I know I can make it.

-Brent

Cassie McDonald: Why I Run

For me, running is a personal challenge. I'm not built to be a runner and it's never been easy for me...and that's why I do it. In life, just like with running, it's the hard things worth fighting for, and it's overcoming a challenge that shows me what I am truly made of. As a physical therapist, I work with patients who have been through all kinds of trauma. To them, taking a first step after weeks (or months) in a hospital bed is their challenge, and every day I'm reminded of how lucky I am to be able to run until I can't breathe, my legs hurt, and I think I can't go one step further. I love digging deep down and finding the will to go the last mile (or on a bad day, 4 miles), because that's what I ask my patients to do every day...dig down, and find the strength to take a few more steps.  And that's why I run...for all the people I have or will work with who can't, and to remind myself that no matter what challenges in life (or on the road) present themselves, I can dig down and find the strength within myself to overcome.

As for why I'm running on the little team that could, it is simple. Sarah Farnell is one of the most genuine, caring, encouraging, and giving people I know. I've known so many people who have battled cancer, and it's a disease that affects all of us, directly or indirectly. I never knew Sarah's sister, but when Sarah asked me to be a part of her group and to raise money for Caring for Carcinoid, I didn't think twice...because I know she'd do the same for me (and probably more).

-Cassie

Jane Wilson-Moses: Why I Run

I run for my friends.

I don't actually run that much. Mostly I walk. But at least I'm moving!

In 2003, I was just 19, an awkward tall skinny girl, often mistaken for a boy, who drank too much. I laughed a lot but I was brittle. When I met the early members of this Little Team we were working together for the common joy at a summer camp for people with disabilities. That place and these people have changed my life.  Now I'm 26, still tall, a little less skinny, never mistaken for a boy. And I'm happy. I'm surrounded by complex, funny, beautiful friends. We have dinner together every Sunday night.

Back then most of us hadn't known a lot of loss. These days lots of us have. I move because Peppy, Rosey, and Allie have lost family to cancer. I move because I have cancer in my family. I move because I belong to a world where everyone loses people they love, to one thing or another, and with my friends I can do some small thing to stand up for life. Because life is sweet.

I move for life, and for love.

-Jane

Rachel Katz: Why I Run

On April 30th, I am running the Country Music Half-Marathon in Nashville, TN to raise money for carcinoid cancer research. I am running in honor of Payton Greaber, my college roommate's sister who passed away three years ago from this cancer at the young age of 29.  Caring for Carcinoid is an amazing organization that raises money for carcinoid research and is committed to finding a cure for this currently uncurable disease.  Every penny given to this organization goes directly to fund research.

This 13.1 miles race will be an amazing experience, as I will be running for Payton and all other families affected (~100,000) by this disease. For every $100 raised, I pledge a mile to a family member affected by carcinoid.  With just 13 donations of $100 (smaller and larger donations are accepted too! every penny counts!) I can cover the entire length of the race! Please consider donating to this great cause and you will be helping children and families, and help prevent future generations from suffering from this disease.

Thank you so much for your support!
-Rachel Katz