Livestrong Challenge – We did it!!
We did it!! We rode 100 miles on Sunday, July 12th in the Livestrong Challenge and together we raised $4,500 to support the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF). Thanks to everyone for your support! We are truly fortunate to have such a wonderful community of friends, family and supporters. And, we once again joined an even bigger and broader community – all those joined in the fight against cancer. I wanted to share a few highlights of the weekend, because it was just so amazing for both of us.
Awards Dinner:
I raised enough money ($3K+) to earn myself two tickets to the LAF Awards dinner on Saturday night at the Hayes Mansion in San Jose.
My good friend Patt is a VIP fund-raiser with LAF, as well as a breast cancer survivor (5 years yesterday). Each year, she continues to raise more money, (this year $25K) and with that, she gets the VIP treatment from LAF, including a front row table at the awards dinner. Patt made a call to LAF and asked that we be seated at her table. In addition to this, we were also invited to the VIP reception prior to the dinner. It was such an honor to see Patt recognized, and more of an honor to be invited to join her! We met LAF employees, as well as other VIP fundraisers.
We were escorted upstairs to our dinner table, where we really saw what it meant to be VIP’s! We enjoyed a fabulous buffet dinner with so many selections our plates were overflowing before we reached the end of the line. As we finished up dinner, the MC for the event, Renee came to the stage. Renee works at LAF and is responsible for its development efforts. She discovered a lump in her breast a few days prior to the Livestrong event last year. She shared her story of surviving her first year and how she is living strong, in the same way all the survivors and participants in the Livestrong Challenge are. She then introduced the keynote speaker….
….Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard. While we had learned earlier that evening that she would be the speaker for the event, I forgot that she is currently battling breast cancer. Turns out she just finished her last chemo treatment on Tuesday and is about to undergo radiation. While she is not done with her treatment, she is a survivor. Bob and I have very different opinions on Carly, given our number of years working for HP. We did agree that no matter how we felt about her business decisions, or her political position, battling cancer requires an inner courage and strength that we have not experienced. I have always admired Carly’s courage to walk forward in the face of tremendous judgment and criticism, but listening to her talk about fear and strength and courage in the face of this disease was poignant– she and all the other cancer survivors inspire me to do more to make cancer a global priority.
Award Winners:
MC, Renee, came back and introduced the award winners for the San Jose event. There was a “messenger” award for the team with the greatest number of individual donors. An award was given to the team with the most members, Team Fatty – Fighting for Susan, with 83 members (check them out at FatCyclist.com). Team Pedal Out won the award for the most money raised, and a New Yorker named Alex won the award for most money raised by an individual. Alex’s dad died from cancer at 43 and on Sunday, Alex turned 46. He calculated that he has lived 1000 days longer than his dad did and said, “When you pass me on the 100 mile ride tomorrow, and you will, wish me a happy birthday.” We did just that – every time we saw him.
The 100-mile Ride:
Wow! There are so many things to say about the ride on Sunday, but to put it very simply, we couldn’t be more proud of what we have accomplished. Not only did we raise a lot more money than we did last year, we have now ridden further than we ever have before. I will admit that I was a little nervous at the 40-mile mark, out in no-man’s land. We knew we were committed and the voice inside my head kept saying, if my mom could endure 9 months of cancer, chemo, sickness and setbacks, I could endure 100 miles on the bike. All I needed to do was to keep pedaling. We met lots of people that looked like they were “feeling it” too – but, together we kept pedaling.
What a wonderful community to be a part of! We met lots of survivors, and others riding in memory or in honor of their loved ones along the route. We thanked countless volunteers making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cutting fruit, holding our bikes, filling our water bottles with water and/or Gatorade (we drank so much Gatorade that day, I thought I would turn into a lemon-lime) and for just being there to support us along the route. We couldn’t have done this without those volunteers!
We woke up at 5:30 on Sunday morning to be at the starting line by 7:30. And, we rolled across the finish line 8 hours and 20 minutes later — Bob’s and my hands joined and held high in victory. I am looking forward to seeing that photo the professionals took as we rolled in. We parked our bikes and enjoyed the pasta, pizza, subway sandwiches, chips, and let’s not forget the beer that was provided at the finish line. There was a live band playing, so we enjoyed the music while we sat and rested our tired legs and ate.
Lights were out by 9:30 on Sunday night – tired, but still reeling from the day’s accomplishments. And, with each day, we find we are more inspired and motivated. And, we know that next year we are going to do more and get better as we continue to join LAF in the fight against cancer.
Thank you again for all of your donations and support! We couldn’t have done this without you!
To see all the pictures we took at the event, go to: My picassa album
All the best,
Sue..