12 hours; 75 miles; 1 Treadmill

I was able to run for 75 miles over 12 hours on a treadmill along with my good friend Ryan Norton. My friends Sam Benjamin, Brian Gruender and Josh Pierce all managed to run over 100 miles in under 24 hours. If this sounds like a terrible way to spend a day, let me tell you it is not. In fact it was one of the most inspiring ways to spend your day.

Do you want to know what does suck, hearing your child’s doctor tell you that they have cancer.

The run was put on by the Snowdrop Foundation of Wisconsin, which helps raise money for pediatric cancer research as well as scholarships for college bound pediatric cancer patients and survivors

For 24 hours so many people endured the suck that is running on a treadmill but it was only for 24 hours. Children with cancer are rarely given a timeline of when the pain will go away or when they will be able to go back to a normal life, unless they are being told that they only have months to live. At the end of 24 hours we were all allowed to go back to our normal lives and continue living, for them the fight never stops. There are no rest breaks. It is a constant fight.

If 75 miles sounds impressive to you, I want you to think of the children that are fighting cancer right now at this very moment. I signed up for this, they did not. They did not have a choice in the matter, I could have gotten off the treadmill at any time, they cannot stop and they won’t stop. The strength that it took for me to keep going is nothing compared to the strength they have every day.

If running for that long, sounds annoying, I want you to think about children that are battling cancer and the hours, days, weeks and months they spend in the Hospital. Running for 75 miles is nothing.

I have been told by some people that they are inspired and in awe of my ability and determination to run for 75 miles or for 12 hours on a treadmill and I have to humbly disagree. If you want to be inspired look no further than children battling cancer that have a smile on their face and have a passion for life that many of us could not even imagine. There is your inspiration.

On a side note, running for this long with this many amazing people taught a lot of important lessons about life. One that I want to share is that you should always leave everything you got, out on the table. It is only when you leave it all out there that you can find what you never knew you had, go further than you ever imagined and take part of events that will change your life.