Hey Everyone,
Oil Creek Update:
I started the Oil Creek 100 race on Saturday morning at 5:00 a.m., and to make a long story short, I didn’t finish. I’m very sorry. I hit the wall the first time around mile 62. The tough Oil Creek course and it’s 18,000 feet of elevation change did a number on me this year. I did my best to keep it moving but I kept hitting the wall. Every few miles it kept getting worse. My legs were wobbly, my feet were blistered over, I couldn’t keep anything in my stomach and I couldn’t make sense of things. Even my brother John, who has always been able to get me moving and motivated, couldn’t get me going this time. I missed the cutoff at the last aid station and stepped off the course around 9:00 a.m.
Sunday morning. I completed just 84.5 miles.
In 9 years of running and after 34 marathons and ultra marathons, this is my first ever DNF. I am extremely sorry for that since this one wasn’t for me. It was for all our Honorees fighting the good fight.
In the last minutes before the race, our Honoree list jumped from 137 to 138.
Friend Nick Nigro sent this message via Leah Beck, “My supervisor, Mary Ryan, who just married on June 11 of this year, is dealing with her husband’s fight with cancer. We don’t know how long he has to live; however, it is a shorter time than a longer one. A little over a year ago, he had a bone marrow transplant and it looked like he was on the way to full recovery. Then they found a lump at the base of his head and discovered brain cancer. It is so sad and so overwhelming; so, even more the reason to support what Ernie is doing. Count my family in as a supporter.”
And, friend Joe Kominek sent this sad word on his friend, “Howard Burkert from your honoree list is in his last days. He has been battling brain cancer and it has now attacked his liver, lungs, stomach, throat etc. Hospice is coming in Monday. Thank you for all you do.”
Both of these are sad stories. Of course, they’re all sad. They remind me of when I sat next to my good friend, Karen, breathing her last breaths at Hospice due to a brain tumor so many years ago. I’ll never forget being there with her and how she handled it. She fought to the end and she never gave up. She had bad days and she had good days and she made good days out of a lot of bad days but she never gave up. And so I’m not giving up either. Saturday at Oil Creek was a bad day for me but like Karen, I’m going to keep making good days…
We still have a long ways to go on the fundraising side! That’s our important goal, to raise funds for cancer research, to save lives. So, next weekend, on Sunday, October 16th, I’m going to finish my mileage that I didn’t do at Oil Creek and I’m going to do it at the Columbus Marathon, sore feet and all! And if that doesn’t get us to our fundraising goal, I’m going to run another marathon and then another and then another!
I don’t really want to run another marathon (LOL!) since my left foot looks like a Bandaid commercial, and I can’t step fully on my right foot, and I’m exhausted, but I’ll do it if I have to. Yes, it’s crazy, but it’s for the cause!
Please consider making a donation to support the cause and fight the good fight! and “Don’t make me run another marathon!” We’re at about $3,605 with checks and pledges to date! That’s great but we’ve never raised less than $5,000 so we have just $1,395 to go!! I know we can do that and I’m going to keep running until we do!
Please donate at: http://pages.teamintraining.org/noh/columbus11/elewisgbvt
Help fight the good fight and save lives! Do it today because it’s not just a race, it’s a life!
Thank you and God Bless,
Ernie