Eleven times I have asked you to help me fight back against the disease that took my father. Eleven times I asked you to help me remember my daughter Isabella who passed away at birth and eleven times I asked you to help me find a cure for the cancer that knocked on my wife’s door not once but twice. These events…..my Dad, Isabella and my wife’s first diagnosis all transpired within an 18 month time period. It was 2004 and my life was completely turned upside down but I landed on my feet a stronger person. I learned to look beyond hardship and to find the blessings that come from even the darkest of times. I learned I had the ability to help others and to inspire others. I learned I had the determination to take my body distances I never would have imagined. I learned I could change the world and more importantly I learned I could teach others that they too could change the world. Beyond the 11 events I completed and beyond the $115,000 that I have raised to fight cancer are many seasons as a coach for Team in Training where I have helped hundreds, if not thousands, of people to cross the half and full marathon finish lines and collectively we have raised several million dollars. My story helped me to accomplish these things for I am blessed with more motivation than anyone would ever need. I made promises to my Dad and my daughter and my wife. I have done those promises great justice so this time I am training for another and pushing myself farther than I have before……..Two Hundred Sixteen Point Eight Miles for Ryan.

There is a big part of me that wants and needs to apologize for seeking your help yet again but there is a bigger part of me that is sorry we do not yet have a cure for cancer. Great strides have been made and we are much closer today to that cure than when I started this process back in 2004. Despite this progress, though, cancer is still knocking on doors and unfortunately Ryan Mattingly was a recent recipient of one of these visits. Ryan is 18 years old. We have not yet met as I type this post but we will meet and I will tell him how inspirational he is to me and I will use my blog (www.training2savelives.com) to let him inspire you as well. I came to know of Ryan because his Mom Katie Mattingly was a participant on my Summer 2012 Westside Marathon team for Team in Training. We met at an information meeting and I could instantly tell she was a bright spirit and a good soul. She had seen our sea of purple run by on multiple occasions over the years and wanted to be a part of it. Katie signed up and did remarkably well. As many do, she originally signed up for the half marathon but I am good at persuading people to raise their expectations and ultimately she transitioned to do the 2012 San Diego RNR full marathon which she completed on June 3, 2012. Surrounding this successful journey for Katie was the story of Ryan. It was sometime around May, a few weeks out from the race and Katie seemed a little off at practice. I don’t remember all the conversation but I inquired what was wrong and Katie broke down telling me that her son Ryan was not feeling very well. He was attending San Diego State and was having cramps, was losing weight and he was vomiting a lot among other symptoms. Any Mom would be concerned about this but we have to go back to when Ryan was 5 to understand the full extent of what was going on and why Katie was so worried.

When Ryan was 5 years old, he had a routine urine test that produced not so routine results. Protein was found in his urine which ultimately led to the diagnosis of kidney disease. It was discovered that Ryan only had one kidney and that one kidney was not functioning properly. At 5 years old, Ryan was told he would need a kidney transplant. He had to wait a few years but when he was 8 years old, Ryan’s father donated a kidney so that Ryan could live. The transplant went well and one year after surgery, Ryan was doing quite well. Outside of the routine visits to test his kidney function, Ryan was living a fairly normal life. He was and is very into sports and played baseball all 4 years in high school.

Ryan got accepted to San Diego State and began his college career in the fall of 2011. He had to come back to LA every two months for routine kidney tests (routine if you had a trasplant) but in between these trips back home, Katie had a sea of support in San Diego that were aware of Ryan’s situation and could keep an eye on him. In the spring of 2012, Ryan began complaining that he was not feeling well tied to all the symptoms I mentioned above. Now that you know the backstory, you can understand why Katie was so upset to learn of her son’s struggles. In April 2012, the symptoms worsened when Ryan began to vomit blood and a trip to the ER ensued. Many tests were performed trying to determine the problem. At first no ulcers were found. A colonoscopy revealed that nothing was wrong. MRI’s did not show the source of the symptoms either. Where the blood was coming from was a mystery at this point. Ultimately, Ryan had to swallow a capsule camera (Katie is probably mocking my layman’s terms at this point!) which was able to discover a lot of ulcers in Ryan’s small intestine. Ulcers are not good but at least the mystery was solved. Ryan was allowed to finish school before addressing the situation. The hope was that this was all tied to the medicine Ryan was taking as a result of his kidney transplant……………one of his two medicines is known to cause these ulcers.

After school ended, Ryan was still sick. The ulcers were still there and things were not improving. Doctors were able to go in and get a biopsy of the ulcers and this is when the diagnosis of cancer entered the picture in July 2012. PTLD - Post Transplant Lymphoproliferative Disorder. Sounds bad. The shorter version is Non Hodgkins Lymphoma. Still sounds bad and it is. Cancer sucks and that is why I come to you. Ryan is fighting to get healthy and I want him to know that the world has his back. I want his Mom to know that the world has her back.

Ryan just completed his 4th round of chemotherapy on November 16th. He should be in school. He should be at a San Diego State football game and worrying about final exams. What he should not be doing is worrying about when his hair will grow back or when he will be admitted to the hospital for the 13th time…...he has been admitted 12 times from April to now. While Ryan fights cancer, I will train for him. While Ryan takes his 5th and 6th rounds of chemo therapy, I will raise money to find a cure. This is where I need your help.

What I plan to do is complete 216.8 miles between December 2, 2012 and June 23, 2013. How will I do that you ask. I will complete the California International Marathon on 12/2/12. I will complete the American River 50 Mile Endurance Run on April 6, 2013 and I will complete Ironman Couer d’Alene on June 23, 2013. It may sound arrogant to say I will complete all of these so early in the process but, if you know me, you know it will take me getting run over by a freight train to keep me from the finish line. I have my story and I have Ryan counting on me to see this through so I will succeed. I have no time goals for any of these events. I have begun to train differently utilizing HR instead of worrying about pace. I am doing this now to be strong and faster later. I am training slower but it is making me a better runner. I will also chronicle this training aspect of the journey at my blog but I am doing this to make sure I am successful on the road to 216.8 miles of racing. The 50 mile run is probably my biggest concern. That is a long way and I have been known to get a stress fracture…..or two….or three. Knowing that and trying to get my head around this journey months ago, I changed my foot strike. This may sound easy but I have run my entire live with a severe heel strike. That heel strike results in more impact than I think my body could handle over 50 miles so I changed it to a mid foot strike. It was difficult. It created so many aches and pains in the transition…..back pain……knee pain…..foot pain which I am dealing with now. In the long run, it is the best way to see this journey through for Ryan. I cannot raise the money if I am not putting in the miles so I had to adapt. I will do the work. I will swim the laps, which I really do not like. I will bike and run the miles probably averaging 150-225 miles per week over the course of this journey but all of that pales in comparison to what Ryan and Katie are dealing with so please join me in showing the two of them that the world cares and the world is behind them and help me work the world closer to a cure for cancer. I have asked many times for help. I am asking again and I think Ryan is well worth the ask. If you agree, please consider making a donation by clicking the link above. Any amount is appreciated. I want to raise over $10,000 and will be ecstatic if we can get to $15,000.

Thanks for reading. Please follow the journey of Ryan, Katie and myself over the next 7 months at www.training2savelives.com. Until then, live life with passion and go make a difference!

Christopher D. Wilno