Cures Rock! Tour: Adventure Ahead!

In 2006, I heard three words that nobody should have to hear in their lifetime: “You have cancer.” At the time, I was 31 years old, had a great career and was training for my first marathon. Cancer? What!?!

Months later, I was still battling treatments, but my friend, Mike Sheehy, ran my marathon for me while raising funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) as part of the Team in Training organization. (Probably the only sub-3 hour marathon I’ll ever be able to claim…) Part of the deal was that I’d kick my leukemia to the curb and run the marathon with him the following year in 2008. And I did.

I can verify from my own experience how inspiring it was to know that someone was out there running for me, while I was running my own endurance race with chemotherapy. Over time, I’ve learned there are teams of folks out there doing just that --- racing to save lives and
to raise funds to find a cure for blood cancers like leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.

Since then, I’ve fought cancer three times, and I am very happy to say that I’m cancer-free.
(That’s right -- it’s three strikes, and you’re outta here, Cancer!) Along the way, I’ve met some incredible people with amazing stories to tell, and we all have something in common: Cancer.

To be honest, I’ve had enough, and it’s the reason I founded the “Cures Rock!” campaign to raise funds and awareness about cancer in young adults (ages 18- 39). Cures Rock! has become a growing grassroots organization of survivors and cancer warriors with passion to change the world and end the stigma of cancer.

Recently, a group of my friends and I were sitting around trying to find ways to do four things: create awareness of blood cancers, cheer on families and patients in their own battles, say “thank you” to medical teams, and raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Let’s face it. Today, we YouTube, Podcast, Blog, Wiki, Facebook and Tweet. We wanted to create awareness of blood cancers by harnessing that energy and “taking it to the streets” with an extreme challenge, break down global silos, and inspire those impacted by cancer around the world through our love of online social media, endurance sports and music.

Keeping all these things in mind, we created the Cures Rock! Tour (CRT). The CRT is an ultra-run from San Diego, CA to Phoenix, AZ (over 500 miles) that will raise funds for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. My friend, Mike Sheehy, will run an ultramarathon – more than 31 miles or 50km – each day for 17 days straight. He’ll be accompanied by a Relay Support Team (I’ll be on that team!) and anyone who is interested in running with him. The run will begin on January 1, 2010 at Cancer Survivor's Park and finish at the 2010 P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Marathon on January 17th. Along the route, we are going to visit hospitals and patient families impacted by cancer.

Here’s how you can be involved in the Cures Rock! movement to kick cancer to the curb:

• DONATE to this amazing cause. I realize these are challenging economic times for us all and charitable contributions are harder than ever to raise. I also know that most of you share a connection to cancer in some way and have a desire to make a difference in the lives of those that are living with it today or that may face it in the future. 100% of your donation will go to LLS and is tax deductible. (We're covering our own expenses for the Tour.) Please make a secure online donation by visiting this link: Cures Rock! Tour Donation Page.

• PASS IT ON. Tell EVERYONE you know. Please pass on this e-mail or the tour website http://www.curesrocktour.com/ to anyone you think will also be willing to support the tour (either financially or through in-kind gift donations). Facebook it. My Space it. Email it. Text it. Talk about it. Please help our grassroots campaign. Even if someone cannot donate, we’d love for them to be aware of the LLS Mission and Cures Rock! campaign. If your company wants to be a sponsor, please email me.

• Follow my Cures Rock! Blog at: http://www.curesrock.org/

• Follow us on Twitter: CuresRock. (Hashtags: #CuresRock & #CRT2010)

• Join the Facebook "Fan" Page: www.Facebook.com/CuresRock

Thank you for being involved in an amazing cause. We all know that cancer doesn’t discriminate and can impact any of our lives at any moment. In the 5 minutes you’ve taken to read this blog post, someone new was diagnosed with blood cancer. I am committed to this challenge because my ultimate hope is that in my lifetime we will see a cure for cancer --- and that one day, my nieces and nephew will say, “What’s cancer?” The only way to keep that hope alive is to pass that expectation on to as many people as possible, which is what the Cures Rock! Tour is going to do. Together, we CAN make a difference.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” ~ Margaret Mead

Thank you for joining our small group with an extreme challenge. I know together, we can make this a reality. Your support of the Cures Rock! Tour and our incredible journey is greatly appreciated. CURES ROCK!!!

Pic:

1. Colin, Mike & Julie (CRT Teammates) at Cancer Survivor's Park, the location of the 1st day of the Cures Rock! Tour.

2. Sisters kicking cancer's bootie at the LIVESTRONG Challenge - Austin.

3. Cures Rock! Tour logo

Quote

“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”

- Buddha

"Thank You" to Cures Rock! Tour Team Veterans

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." -J.F. Kennedy

Thank you to all Veterans, Active Duty and Reserve men and women that stand and fight in honor for our country. We are grateful, and we thank you. (I encourage everyone to take the time today to thank those that stand in harm's way for our country.)

I would also like to thank the military members of our Cures Rock! Tour Team today. Thank you for your service in the past, present and future. These gentlemen continue to serve our communities in inspiring ways outside of their military service, too. In our case, we are fortunate to have them involved in the upcoming Cures Rock! Tour to raise funds and awareness about blood cancers. Mike Sheehy (the ultramarathoner running the 500mi course between San Diego and Phoenix), along with his brothers (who are members of the Relay Support Team), have all served our country. You can read their Bios on the "Our Team" page of our web site.

As humble and humorous as these guys may be when it comes to their rock star ways, the entire Cures Rock! Team would still like to say, "THANK YOU."

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Diagnosed With Chronic Myeloid Leukemia - ABC News

After being diagnosed last December, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is speaking out about his CML leukemia, treatments and advocating for the Cause! Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Diagnosed With Chronic Myeloid Leukemia - ABC News

You can also connect to his new Facebook page he created about his leukemia: http://bit.ly/1nmPTn.

CURES ROCK! (Cancer does not.) Join the campaign to kick cancer to the curb (and while you're at it, join our Fan Page on Facebook).

Cures Rock! the Night

"Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” - Chinese Proverb

Many of you have heard me chatter on and on (and on!) about the upcoming Cures Rock! Tour. We know that not all of us can run 500 miles, so we're excited to remind you all that Cures Rock! has formed a walk team in support of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's "Light The Night" Walk event! We'd love to have you join our team for this magical fundraising walk that brings hope to many in their fight against cancer.

This year's Light the Night will take place on the evening of Friday, November 20th at Qualcomm Stadium. This special date is the Nation's night to pay tribute and bring hope to thousands of people battling blood cancers and to commemorate loved ones lost.

A fellow marathon runner and blogger, Art, mentioned in his Racn 4 a Cure blog,"One of the really great things about Light the Night is seeing all of the white balloons, because every one of those balloons is carried by a cancer survivor. 40 years ago, surviving cancer was a rare thing. Now it is common, but not common enough, which is why so many people are out there raising money to defeat these terrible diseases."

We are asking that everyone who can, try and raise $100 as a member of our Cures Rock! team. For that $100, you will receive a Light the Night t-shirt and an illuminated balloon to walk with that evening. The balloons are a significant part of the event. You will see participants walking with red, white and gold balloons. Red balloons signify support for the mission. White balloons are carried by survivors of a blood-related cancer. Gold balloons are carried by those that are walking in memory of somebody that lost their battle. I'll be walking with a White Balloon, but many of us will be walking with a gold balloon in honor of loved ones lost from these deadly diseases. Dream of the possibilities....thousands of people, raising $100 each, equals thousands of dollars for LLS in one evening!

To be a part of this magical, illuminated night is both inspirational, as well as very important to the fight against cancer.

You can join our "Cures Rock!" Light the Night team with your fellow coaches, runners, family members of all ages, Mentors and Captains by clicking the "Join" link at our team homepage:
http://pages.lightthenight.org/sd/SanDiego09/curesrock. Please be sure to come to our Cures Rock! booth that evening and join up with the team for the walk (we'll be sending more details soon).

Or if you can’t come out that night but want to donate you can just click the “Donate” button on the website or click here to donate to my fundraising page: http://pages.lightthenight.org/sd/SanDiego09/curesrock/curesrockinsandiego.

For more information, see our LTN web site by clicking here.

Happy Mo-vember!

That's right...today is November 1st, and the beginning of Movember...a charity movement intent of changing the face of men's health. Men, all over the world, will be clean shaved today...and then grow their best moustaches throughout the month to raise funds and awareness for prostrate and testicular cancer. These funds will benefit the Prostrate Foundation and the Lance Armstrong Foundation! Funds for LIVESTRONG will go towards the Young Adult Alliance, aimed at improving research and the quality of life for young adults (18-39yrs) with cancer.

We kicked it off with a "Stash Dash" pre-party yesterday with our whole marathon team wearing the best 'stash of their choice during our long run practice. Today, "mo' bros" are getting ready for a month of spreading the word that it's not just about the tatas, but also men's health.

Thanks to our Aussie friends who started this movement, we are happy to join together in the fight against cancer, supporting two great cancer charities. So, mo' bros and mo' sistas... check out http://us.movemeber.com/ for more info or click here for a short video!

(Are you a mo' bro or mo' sista? Feel free to comment and leave a link to your page!)