26.2 Miles! We're doing it for Hunter ... otherwise, we'd just be crazy! We're definitely not elite athletes; it's about finishing the race for Hunter. If you've found our blog, chances are, you know that we're trying to raise at least $10,000 to help pay for the HUGE uninsured costs of our nephew's bone marrow transplant. Please take a second to read about Hunter & our journey to prepare for the Chicago Marathon! E-mail us at brookiej73@yahoo.com for info on making a tax-deductible donation.

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Long time no post! Well, I just wanted to update everyone & let you know that Brad is training again. As you might remember, he was sent to his CST (the training that led to his deployment) the day before the marathon last year. He's training again! Please keep him in your prayers ... we need him to stay injury free until the 7th of October!

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Just a quick note ... we now have raised an AMAZING $14,000 (a couple of dollars short, but we're close!). What a blessing! We just got a $2,000 check in the mail last week; isn't God good?! Also, I added a link on the side to a website for a dear friend's cousin. It's good to see that there are happy endings & new beginnings. Oh, one more thing ... GO AND REGISTER AS A MARROW DONOR. PLEASE. It's easy to register; you can do a mouth swab & they won't contact you unless you match someone. You might just be able to save someone's life. Thanks for all your help & support -- who knows what the grand total might be! Take care & have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Brad gets home tomorrow, so we are very excited! Bye for now, Brooke

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Hi all! This is just a note to let you know that WE MADE OUR GOAL! It's so exciting & we're so amazed by all the support. The grand total is just under $12,000! We're still trying to work out a matching agreement with a business or two, so please be praying that it will happen. It's so incredible that we were able to raise that kind of money. What's even better is the fact we're still getting money. It's not too late ... you can always lend a helping hand to Hunter. That's the really amazing part; even with that much money, we are just scratching the surface of what is owed. Every bit helps & we are truly greatful and amazed by the outpouring for Hunter and his family. I'm still trying to get my brother to sit down at the computer & write something, but for now, it's still just me! Thanks so much for everything! It has been an amazing journey! Now I just have to keep exercising ... just not 20 miles on a Saturday anymore! :) Bye for now! Brooke

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

After the run ... BRRR!


After the run ... BRRR!
Originally uploaded by brookiej1.

We did it! WE DID IT! Yippee. What a wonderful feeling to cross the finish line. It was definitely emotional. We got cool medals & those really weird looking cape things ... they were VERY helpful with the wind & cold. Once you stop running, you're body cools down much faster than I had imagined it would. I guess that's what happens when it's 30 degrees! :) Anyhow, they gave us some snacks & BEER. Ben about knocked people over to get to the free beer! :) It was well deserved, if you ask me! Just wish I had a few more clothes on at the time. Here we are at Buckingham Fountain in downtown Chicago. CELEBRATE!

Special thanks to all those who helped make the weekend possible by helping us in Chicago! Our Uncle Jeff & Aunt Beth hosted us a lot of the weekend & helped get Paula to & from the airport. UJ, AB, Michele, Julia, my mom & grandma kept Abby entertained while we were downtown for 2 nights ... that's a full-time job! :) She had FUN! Of course, Paula was our fan on the ground ... running to take pics & feeding us after the race! It was a WONDERFUL experience & we were blessed to have your love & support -- we couldn't have done it without you!

p.s. We also thank those again who supported us finacially & prayerfully; it was an amazing experience! It's never too late to donate to Hunter through sending us your card or working directly with NTAF!

Hunter, this 26.2 is for you!


Hunter, this 26.2 is for you!
Originally uploaded by brookiej1.
I don't very often request pictures of me from the back side! This was a special occasion! We had: "Hunter, this 26.2 is for you" on the back of our shirts. People would run by & ask about him. We even had people yelling, "GO HUNTER!" One lady ran up & asked us about him. She ran over to her running partner & told her they were running for a 9 y.o. Hunter who had a BMT in May. I cried then. Actually, it was quite an emotional day for me. No surprise there ... especially if you know me! :) One guy said "Hunter is a lucky guy" not sure if that was nice or creepy, so we'll just say nice!

Photo Op at Mile 13!


Photo Op at Mile 13!
Originally uploaded by brookiej1.
We stopped to have our picture taken! That's one thing I have to say; when you're goal is finishing, you can do things like this & not feel bad! We would take a walking break when we needed it ... we stopped at the port-a-potty ... we stretched. We were running to finish the race for Hunter, not to complete it in a certain amount of time.

We're half way there!


We're half way there!
Originally uploaded by brookiej1.
Here we come! Paula seemed amazed that we looked as good as we did! :) Half way isn't the hard spot! We still felt pretty human at that point in time ... we were looking at 16 miles as half way; crazy psychological things we were doing. Oh well, it seemed to work!

Mile 2


Mile 2
Originally uploaded by brookiej1.
Paula trucked over in the freezing cold to take a picture of us at mile 2. You can't see Ben ... he's behind the guy in the orange. I'm the 3rd one from either side!

Look at all the people


Look at all the people
Originally uploaded by brookiej1.
One of the most amazing things was the insane number of people out to run & show their support! WHEW. There were 40,000 entries accepted & over 1 million spectators. The weather was horrible, so there would have been more spectators! That was probably the most incredible part to me. We were jam-packed at the start & it took a few miles for the pack to clear and give us some running room. :)

Before the big race!


Before the big race!
Originally uploaded by brookiej1.
Here we are at the Hilton before heading out into the cold. We had our sweats on & threw them away right before we crossed the start line. We ran in little gloves & I wore my ear warmers the whole way!

He really does exist...


He really does exist...
Originally uploaded by brookiej1.
Finally! Here is a picture of Ben after one of his last runs. Notice he's in the mean streets of Shelbyville ... HA! Okay the alley. :)

Monday, October 23, 2006

WE DID IT! I still can't believe it; what an amazing experience! We (Brooke, Ben & Paula) got to our hotel on Saturday night. Due to a small reservation issue, we ended up staying at the Chicago Hilton, which was the official marathon hotel. The big concern was getting a room with 2 double beds ... we all like each other, but 3 in a king bed would've been COZY! We went to the runners' expo & then we went back to the hotel for the official pasta dinner. After that, it was to our room & I fell asleep after taking a benadryl, while Ben watched the World Series (GO CARDINALS!!) & Paula read. We woke up at 6 a.m. & got ready to head over to the race. I got up first -- I woke up before the alarm. I didn't sleep well, but it was just enough to feel human! :) We turned the local news on & found out that it was 30 degrees, but with the wind chill, it felt like 20!!! Yikes. After we heard them talk about how cold and windy it was for about 30 minutes, Paula turned off the TV! We headed over to the marathon at about 7:20; it was CRAZY once we got to the hotel lobby. You should've seen the people! Whew. There were supposed to be about 40,000 runners ... I got an email today that said it was actually about 34,000. Anyhow, it was amazing to be in the midst of all those people -- you can only imagine what it's like until you're in the middle of it. We wore sweatsuits & threw them out into a big pile before we crossed the line. (Just so you know, they give them to the less fortunate) Then, we were off. We did wear shorts in the 30 degree weather in 25 mile an hour winds. :) I think the numbness helped! I did wear something on my ears the whole time -- I threw off my gloves about 3/4 of the way through. It was an AWESOME experience. Not once did I think we wouldn't make it ... there must've been a lot of people praying for us! :) The most amazing part about the race was the fact that there were over 1 million people there as spectators! They were so great. The only thing we would've done differently would've been to have our names on the front of our shirts. People would yell out names as runners came by ... it was like they knew all the spectators. How motivating! Anyhow, thank you to all the people who came out in the icky cold rainy weather to cheer us on! You were great! Okay, I'm still out of town; I'll write more later & post pics. Thanks for all your support! We're over $11,000 now! Bye for now, Brooke

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Hi all! We're getting closer & closer to the big day! We'll leave for Chicago 1 week from tomorrow! WHEW! The mileage has gone way down for our runs, so this Saturday, we'll run just 8 miles. I never thouhgt I'd say JUST 8 miles! We are tapering & everyone tells me that it works! I'm looking forward to the marathon on some levels. There will be 40,000 runners & over 1 million spectators -- that will be a pretty amazing experience; just to see that many people will be a little overwhelming! The main reason for this post is to give you the latest fundraising total. We're getting closer to our goal of $10,000 ... right now, we have over $9,200. I have a call into NTAF to get the credit card donations, so we could very well be over that -- how exciting! Thanks for all your support. I'll get the boys on here to write one of these days! Until next time, Brooke

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Hi there! Latest fundraising total is $8,132!! WOOHOO! Thanks for all your support. We're inching closer to our goal! Please keep praying for Hunter ... things aren't going too well right now. Until next time, Brooke