My Fundraising Page

Fight to Win!

Hello there-

My name is Kyle Alfriend, and I am currently running 546 training miles in preparation for the Columbus marathon in October, the Tampa Marathon in January.

Why?

I am asking you to sponsor my run to raise money for cancer research.

Why?

My son and I attended the 2006 Columbus marathon. We helped out at a water station that was run by the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. We spent 6 hours passing water to runners and talking the staff of the Society.

Three weeks later my healthy and athletic 15 year old son began complaining of stomach pains. We went to the hospital with a "worst-case scenario" of appendicitis. But within hours we were on the oncology floor, learning about a rare and aggressive cancer called Burkitt's lymphoma with Leukemia. The cancer was stage IV, and doubling in size every 16 hours. It had already spread through his intestines, pancreas, spleen, stomach, and bladder. It then moved to into his lungs and heart, and finally into 85% of his bone marrow.

We searched around the world for treatments, traveling to several hospitals. As the prognosis got worse, Tyler�"s resolve increased. He came up with the slogan "Fight to Win", and went to war with cancer.

As Tyler promised to beat the odds and defeat cancer, I promised to run the Marathon. Tyler laughed at me, saying I was far to old, fat, and slow...and had never run before. But in October of 2008, I crossed the finish line of the Columbus Marathon. However the real miracle was Tyler, waiting at the finish, two months into remission.

So why am I running again?

They say distance running is 10% physical and 90% mental. Since my wife always tells me I am mental, it seems like a natural fit. But mostly I am running to raise more money for research. Did you know...

• The cause of most childhood cancers is still unknown.
• Cancer is the #1 disease killer of children and teens.
• 1 in 300 children will be diagnosed with cancer before the age of 20.
• There has been only one new cancer drug for childhood cancer in the past 30 years.
• The current strategy of treating childhood cancer is mega-doses of "hand-me-down" adult chemo drugs, most of which have proven to have life long side effects on developing children and teens.
• The number of children and teens diagnosed with cancer has increased every year for the past 25 years.
• There are currently 30,000-40,000 children fighting cancer in the U.S.
• 12,400 children are diagnosed each year.
• 3,000 will die of cancer each year.
• For reasons not fully known, teenagers experience the highest rate of secondary cancers as a result of the high dose chemotherapy treatments.
• At the time of diagnosis in teens, the cancer has already spread in 80% of the cases. That is compared to the 20% in adults.
• Teenagers have the lowest survival rate of any age group under 70.
• A 5-year study at Children's Hospital Pittsburgh concluded that teenager�"s lack of access to clinical trials is the #1 reason for their low survival rate.
• A study from the Teen Cancer Institute reported that a lack of understanding of teen cancer by pediatricians results in an average delay of 9 1/2 weeks from initial symptoms to correct diagnosis. This is most common in bone, brain, and blood cancers.

I thank you for your support. You can read more about Tyler, and the other kids we came to know, at TylerAlfriend.blogspot.com

Here is my training schedule.

5-May 3 Miles - Done. 1st of many miles

7-May 3 Miles - Done.

8-May 3 Miles - Done. Why is this so hard to start again?

12-May 3 Miles - Done, but I am very slow

14-May 3 Miles - Done. This was easier last year when nobody believed I could do it.

17-May 4 Miles - Done.

19-May 4 Miles - Done. Finally feeling like I am back in the game.

21-May 4 Miles - Done. This one hurt.

23-May 4 Miles -Done. Feeling better.

26-May 4 Miles - Done. Still doing good. begining to drop some more weight.

28-May 4 Miles - Done

31-May 5 Miles - Done. They say running adds years to your life. I know it's true. I feel 20 years older.

2-Jun 4 Miles - Done.

4-Jun 4 Miles - Done. Best run of the training. Great pace and feeling good.

7-Jun 5 Miles - Done

9-Jun 4 Miles - Done

11-Jun 4 Miles (0.5 mile AT) - Done, and feeling good!

13-Jun 6 Miles - That was hard.

16-Jun 4 Miles (1 HILL) - Done. Well, didn't do the hill. I'm on a ship, and the hill part is a little hard. I tried the treadmill, but I almost fell off when the ship rocked! So I just ran laps on the deck (16 laps = 4 miles).

19-Jun 3.1 Miles RACE - Done. Well, not really. I'm still on a ship in the islands. So I ran 4 miles (16 laps) on the deck.

21-Jun 7 Miles - Done. Actually done on the 20th. No time on the 21st. 28 laps on the deck of a Carnival Cruise Ship. Not the easiest thing in the world. But trust me...I would rather be running in Roatan, followed by SCUBA dving, than running in Sharon Woods in Columbus, Ohio!

23-Jun 4 Miles (2 HILLS) Injured: Per the doctor, I am out of commision for a week. Not a running injury. It is an infection from a bug bite in belize. Just working out in the gym now. Running to resume July 2nd.

25-Jun 4 Miles (1.0 mile AT) - Injured

27-Jun 8 Miles - Injured

30-Jun 4 Miles (3 HILLS) - Injured

2-Jul 4 Miles (1.25 mile AT) - Injured.

5-Jul 9 Miles - DONE! - Finally back in the game! This was not easy at all. I am hurting. I can not afford any more time off.

7-Jul 4 Miles (4 HILLS) - Done - Certainly easier than the 9 mile. Still hurting from that one.

9-Jul 5 Miles (1.5 mile AT) - Done - That one was harder.

11-Jul 10 Miles - Done. About killed me.

14-Jul 5 Miles (5 HILLS) - No hills in Florida, but I did the miles.

16-Jul 5 Miles (EASY) - Done. Fun.

18-Jul 10 Miles RACE - Sorry. I blew it off. Still in Florida. I need to make it up.

21-Jul 5 Miles (6 HILLS) Done. Hard run for some reason, but finished.

23-Jul 5 Miles (1.75 mile AT) Done. Feeling better.

24-Jul 4 Miles - Run. Great run

25-Jul 8 Miles - Done.

28-Jul 6 Miles (7 HILLS) - Done

30-Jul 6 Miles (2.0 miles AT)

31-Jul 4 Miles

2-Aug 12 Miles

4-Aug 6 Miles (8 HILLS)

6-Aug 6 Miles (2.25 miles AT)

7-Aug 4 Miles

8-Aug 14 Miles

11-Aug 6 Miles (2 - 800's)

13-Aug 3.1 Miles RACE

14-Aug 4 Miles

16-Aug 13.1 Miles RACE

18-Aug 7 Miles (3 - 800's)

20-Aug 7 Miles (2.75 miles AT)

21-Aug 4 Miles

23-Aug 16 Miles

25-Aug 7 Miles (4 - 800's)

27-Aug 7 Miles (3.0 miles AT)

28-Aug 4 Miles

29-Aug 10 Miles

1-Sep 8 Miles (5 - 800's)

3-Sep 8 Miles (3.25 miles AT)

4-Sep 4 Miles

6-Sep 19 Miles

8-Sep 8 Miles (6-800's)

10-Sep 8 Miles (3.5 miles AT)

11-Sep 4 Miles

12-Sep 22 Miles

15-Sep 8 Miles (7 - 800's)

17-Sep 8 Miles (3.75 miles AT)

20-Sep 18 Miles

22-Sep 9 Miles (8 - 800's)

24-Sep 8 Miles (4.0 miles AT)

27-Sep 22 Miles

29-Sep 9 Miles (5 - 800's)

1-Oct 9 Miles (3.5 miles AT)

3-Oct 16 Miles

6-Oct 7 Miles (3 - 800's)

8-Oct 7 Miles (3.0 miles AT)

10-Oct 11 Miles

13-Oct 5 Miles

15-Oct 3 Miles

18-Oct 26.2 Miles MARATHON