Why the Red Head Runs

Hello all you dedicated Readers!

I'm Sadie, the crazy friend who is going to run with Christine in her first 1/2 marathon!!! She has asked me to be a guest blogger and I'm honored! Let me just say that I'm super proud of her for accepting this challenge and so excited to cross the finish line with her. Please, please, please donate to her Livestrong fund and help her reach her goal!

Auntie Di and I on the bike trail at Coeur d'Alene.

As some of you know, my Aunts (Auntie Di and Auntie Sue) were both diagnosed with Breast Cancer about a week before my wedding this year. It is truly amazing that their diagnosis was so close together and that they are traveling the path of being cancer free together. The news was a huge surprise: my Aunts were super fit and health conscious women who were always ready for some sort of physical challenge. Cancer is not what they thought their next challenge would be.

Auntie Di has had a double mastectomy and is in the final rounds of chemo and Auntie Sue is also in the final stages of chemo but will have a double mastectomy early next year. Both will have reconstructive surgery (we will have fun boob shopping as well as clothes shopping as you need to show off the new girls). Everyone in these ladies life's have been so supportive and willing to help in any way and I wish for anyone going through this nightmare to have the support they have.

Our family at the Race for the Cure in 2009 (my first 5k ever!)

So, when I heard the news of my Aunts diagnosis, I do what I do best (this is also one of Christine's strengths) - I turned to list-making. I'm not the most sentimental when it comes to news like this so I needed a list, a list that showed the steps of recovery, the steps of positivity, the steps of my contributions to their cure. Unfortunately a list was not the answer because Cancer has its own path, it is a path that disregards lists and plays by its own rules. So now what? Well, I decided that I needed to be the constant positivity, the person that helps the larger fight that will benefit people like my aunts. I needed to be the goal setter, not just for myself but also for my aunts and everyone in my family. I needed to show my family that Cancer wants to take everyone linked to it into a dark place but there is a fight and survivors that needed to be celebrated. I needed to be the runner.

Running for a cause, running for a survivor, running for a family member fighting like hell, makes you forget the pain shooting through your legs or the hill at the top of a hill (which I hear Austin has in store for us). You are running for people who are battling something so fierce that the drugs needed to fight it make you feel dead - nothing running will ever compare to. I will continue to run for these ladies and all the people who have more strength than I ever will. My aunts can't wait to get back on the bike, back in the pool, and back in the running shoes so I hope that we can all attend the Scottsdale Half marathon in November (the new boobs will make them fit in Scottsdale perfectly) and cross the finish line with a smile and a big f**** you Cancer.

My aunts and I last week celebrating the holidays.