“Rare as is true love, true friendship is rarer.”

-Jean de La Fontaine

This post is a bit late.  I blame the third season of Drop Dead Diva being released on Netflix and the massive amounts of drama going on in my life equally for this!

**I had already written a post about the Relay for Life, but scrapped it because I didn’t want to undermine the cause with all the drama that occurred that day.  Instead I decided to wait a while and start over with a focus on the positive points of the day.**

Last weekend I did the Relay for Life with my super awesome friend Kelly.  It was raining and I was pretty mopey that morning (for obvious reasons), but nothing was going to keep me for getting out there and showing her my support.  I arrived around 10 am and was a little surprised to see just how many people were already there- especially given how cold and rainy it was!  Of course, what’s a little rain when you’ve already battled cancer, right?  These are not your average Joes.

Kelly had already covered several miles by the time I arrived and had a necklace with a bead for each lap to keep track.  Colorful beads!- of course I wanted one!!!!  Which reminds me that I still owe her the $3 for it…. It’s funny how a simple thing like collecting a bead each time around the track could turn something otherwise monotonous and torturous into a fun activity.  In fact, I purpose that they start passing out beads every mile of a marathon. 🙂

I initially planned on staying most of the day to keep Kelly company and make sure she had someone to walk with her the whole time (YES- she walked the FULL 24 HOURS!!!- The girl is a BEAST!!!).  Several friends from boot camp kept us company at various points in the day- including Meghan (Jenna Marble’s doppelganger and my sister from another mother) who (GOD BLESS HER HEART!!!) took the night shift with Kelly. Between the two of us, we were able to keep her company the entire time with some overlap in the middle.

As the day wore on to night, and then the middle of the night, Meghan and I began to get sillier and sillier.  We did the Cuban Shuffle, danced around the field with our glow sticks, and even tried to get Kelly to do the Macarena as we went around the track. I not sure she was as entertained my our antics as we were…  In fact, there is a possibility we may have embarrassed her slightly.

In total I walked 20 miles between 10 am and midnight.  Then, realizing that I was reaching my expiration point in terms of fatigue, I ran the last 6.5  just for the sake of having finished the distance of a marathon.  That’s 106 beads worth for anyone wondering!  I was in some serious pain when I finished (and exhausted, and hungry, and cold, and wet, and cranky… you get the idea lol) I literally could not walk- or move for that matter!

At the same time, though, there was definitely a sense of satisfaction to have covered that kind of distance, especially without having trained for a marathon ahead of time.  After having spent so much time injured, it was a great boost in my confidence.  If I could spend that many hours on my feet in the rain, cold, heat, sun, and still pull out 6.5 miles of running at the end, then maybe there is a good chance I can make in through the Ultra Beast in September.  After all, by then I will have significantly more training under my belt.  While I understand that it is a significantly tougher course than walking on a flat surface, it’s the idea of having to be moving and on my feet for hours on end that was really frightening me.

Despite all the drama of the day, it was an extremely positive and rewarding experience.  No matter what happened, I kept reminding myself that I was there to support Kelly.  There was nothing that was going to distract me from being there for her while I was there… once I got home it was a different story (I basically cried my eyes out).  Even with the drama that occurred, though, I would do it all over again because it was worth it to let her know how much we all care about her.

Related articles

• Cancer Lesson #58: Life Is a Relay (kymlucas.wordpress.com)
• Laps against cancer begin at 8th annual Relay for Life in Mahanoy City (republicanherald.com)
• ‘Relay For Life’ set for celebration – Pauls Valley Daily Democrat (drugstoresource.wordpress.com)
• Walking for a Cause! 2012 Relay for Life at Lincoln-Way East (lividexpression.wordpress.com)