Fundraising Letters are out!

For the past 15 year’s I’ve had the honor of running the Boston Marathon with the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team. And each April there are many special people for whom I run in honor and in memory. This year I’d like to share the story of cancer survivor, Elisabeth Mann.

Many Medfield residents know Mrs. Mann as she has helped generations of children safely navigate their way to and from school. My son, Beau, has been a big fan of Mrs. Mann since he first met her in 4th grade. She was born in Germany in 1929 and moved to Medfield in 1954 with her husband, a Medfield native, where she continues to live today.

Mrs. Mann was diagnosed with cancer in December of 2008, and after 5 grueling surgeries and intense radiation she is now cancer-free and back to work. I think most Medfield residents will agree that Mrs. Mann is one of the most upbeat, friendly and endearing women you could ever meet. After hearing her stories about her childhood in East Germany during and after WW2 and her battle with cancer, I’m in awe of this COURAGEOUS LADY who chooses to embrace and celebrate life one day at a time. She is a gem of a human being, a real inspiration and I’m thrilled to be running in her honor this April.

(My son, Beau, with his favorite crossing guard)

My goal is to raise $10,000. And anyone who makes a donation of $100 or more will be in a drawing for:

Sarah’s Barefoot Contessa Dinner Party
(in honor of your DFMC donation)

10 names (couples) will be pulled at the end of April. The location and date of the dinner will be arranged at your convenience over the course of the year. Medfield or Sagamore Beach…there will be options! So what do you say to 5 Cheese Penne Pasta or Filet of Beef with Gorgonzola Sauce???

If you would like to support my run for DFMC, please click HERE to make a donation.

DONATE TO DFMC TODAY!!

20 miles in the bank

Last Saturday, in honor of the 10th anniversary of what was probably my best race ever, I headed out to Martha's Vineyard to run the 20 mile race they host in February. It's a great event that brings people to the island at a time that typically is pretty dead. I was a bit nervous about the distance as my longest run this season was only 16 miles. Jack made a point of reminding me (and others who were considering the race) NOT to try and race it. So the pressure was off...this was going to be a nice, long run with great views of the ocean.

However, I really didn't take Jack's good advice. In my glory days of sub 3 hour marathons, 7:30 pace was a nice, easy training pace. Today that pace is pretty much tempo/race pace! I enjoyed running with DFMC Laurie (one of our fastest female DFMCers) and new friend, Melissa, and was thrilled to cross the finish line in 2:29:31 - JUST barely breaking that 7:30 pace! That was hard work for me, and it blows my mind that I was able to run that same course in 2:04 ten years ago! Oh...the good old days!

The kids are on vacation this week, and I'm "staycationing" here in Medfield while Brian and Hannah are down in Florida and Beau is skiing in NH. I'm home to supervise Kallie who is training for a divisional meet at the end of the week. My legs felt very heavy the first few days after the race, so I'm stretching and tossing in lots of cross-training this week. SO thrilled with the new, fresh snow we got yesterday and will be heading out to the woods for some skiing pretending I'm in Lake Placid! The ski will be followed by dinner in the "village" (Noon Hill Grill)!