For our Saturday morning run this week we met with the North County Run Team in Solana Beach for a 9 mile run that covered most of the same (gorgeous) run course as last week. Before our weekly runs we have a mini meeting with fundraising updates, training announcements, and something that are called "mission moments."
A couple of weeks ago, a guys named Lawrence (who is one of our team captains) shared his story of coming down with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma as a college student as our mission moment. To make a long story short, his doctor had helped him get a grant from LLS for treatment and Lawrence has been in remission and training, racing and mentoring with Team in Training for the last 5 years.
When Lawrence climbed up the stairs to stand above our group in the parking lot this Saturday morning, I expected to hear him share the same story ... I remembered thinking to myself that it was good for our North County counterparts to hear such an inspiring account to get us off to a good start. But when Coach Cheryl introduced Lawrence with the words "I'm going to try not to cry" I knew something was different this time.
After 5 years in remission, Lawrence's cancer is back. He is taking an incredibly positive attitude towards treatment... there is a new radiation therapy that will only take 3 weeks and he and his doctors are planning on a speedy recovery. He won't be able to run with us for a while. He joked about glowing green in an isolation room at the hospital. He even apologized for not being able to lead the Group A runners this week as originally planned. By the time he wrapped up his "moment" by thanking each of us for being a part of the path to a cure, there wasn't a dry eye anywhere near me.
Big thanks from me to Lawrence for making my nine miles easier this week and helping me rededicate myself to my fundraising efforts.
A couple of weeks ago, a guys named Lawrence (who is one of our team captains) shared his story of coming down with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma as a college student as our mission moment. To make a long story short, his doctor had helped him get a grant from LLS for treatment and Lawrence has been in remission and training, racing and mentoring with Team in Training for the last 5 years.
When Lawrence climbed up the stairs to stand above our group in the parking lot this Saturday morning, I expected to hear him share the same story ... I remembered thinking to myself that it was good for our North County counterparts to hear such an inspiring account to get us off to a good start. But when Coach Cheryl introduced Lawrence with the words "I'm going to try not to cry" I knew something was different this time.After 5 years in remission, Lawrence's cancer is back. He is taking an incredibly positive attitude towards treatment... there is a new radiation therapy that will only take 3 weeks and he and his doctors are planning on a speedy recovery. He won't be able to run with us for a while. He joked about glowing green in an isolation room at the hospital. He even apologized for not being able to lead the Group A runners this week as originally planned. By the time he wrapped up his "moment" by thanking each of us for being a part of the path to a cure, there wasn't a dry eye anywhere near me.
Big thanks from me to Lawrence for making my nine miles easier this week and helping me rededicate myself to my fundraising efforts.
