My Fundraising Page

Running for Their Lives

I Came, I Saw, I Conquered, I Cried

UPDATES

11/1/09 Yes I did it!! This has been one of the most awesome experiences of my life. The course in San Francisco was so beautiful. It took us along the Bay area, thru the Golden Gate Park, and then you made a turn and there was the beautiful Pacific Ocean, which was with us the last several miles of the race. The temperature was cool and I had a big ole grin on my face the entire 13.1 miles. People stood along the roads cheering for us and bands were playing and everyone of us cried at some point. Thank you friends for contributing to this extremely worthy cause. Thank you LLS was giving me the courage to do this. Thank you team-mates for encouraging this ole gal to go for it. I'll be doing it again soon!!

10/14/09 Sunday is the big day and I am so excited. My 23 week journey will be coming to an end. It has been a real adventure pushing myself way outside my comfort zone to do something like this. As I make it thru the 13.1 mile course, I'll be drawing upon many people for inspiration. Here are my mile dedications:

Mile 1--Felder Sartin, our honored hero shown on this page. he and all those like him are the reason for this whole thing so its only fitting that he be recognized at the start.

Mile 2--Rachel Adams, the young step-daughter of my weds. nite friend. Rachel I hope they find a cure for your lymphoma so you can lead a long healthy happy life.

Mile 3--My 3 children, Charles, Sarah and Andy Reese. They inspire me every day to be the best person I can be.

Mile 4--My two dedicated employees, Rachel Poulos and Judy D'Angelo. Without their constant loyalty and hard work I would never be able to do things like this.

Mile 5--Louis Reaux II, the brother of my friend Sharon Barnard. He died as a young child of leukemia. May other families not have to suffer such a loss.

Mile 6--my former sister-in-law, Shirley Prine Guice. Struck with leukemia in the prime of her life, she died too young.

Mile 7--My two very best friends, Monica and Evelyn. Imagine having

2 people in your life who cheer you on and celebrate you always, thru good times and bad, never letting you believe that you were anything but fabulous. That's what they do for me. How lucky am I?

Mile 8--My brothers, Reed and Brent, their wives Susan and Suzanne, and my nieces and nephews. I can always count on my family's love and support.

Mile 9--Bill Tyler, the father of my friend Bob Tyler. Bob's dad died of colon cancer before he turned 50. The research LLS does helps find a cure for all types of cancer.

Mile 10--All of my contributors. Every last one of you!! All I had to do was ask and you gave. Thanks so much. Seriously.

Mile 11--My TNT coaches, Kirk, Pam, and Jenny. They have been fabulous. I've never gone beyond 10 miles, so at mile 11 I'll be thining of all the support and encouragement and help they have offered during the 23 weeks of training. (Jenny I'll be looking for a donut to eat in your honor after the race!)

Mile 12--The best trail boss ever, my mom, Julia Guice. People used to always ask me how I could be so tough when my dad was such a kind man. My response: I take after my mother. And I do. Age 81 she's still going strong.

Mile 13--My dad, Wade Guice, who died of colon cancer at age 69. He never started a project he didn't finish so thinking of him will take me to the finish line.

The last 1/10th of a mile? That one's for me. Never for the life of me would I have thought I could do this. But I will and I can't wait to see how it feels!!

Full report to follow next week. Thanks again to all!

9/29/09 Ciao bella! My trip to Europe was fabulous! I was even able to do some running while I was there.. past some beautiful sites. In Vienna, I jogged past the State Opera House (where I also attended the opera, but not in my jogging clothes!), the Parliament, the 2 main museums, the Emperor's Place and more, much more. In Rome I jogged by the Colloseum and the forum, as well as the Spanish Steps! Yes I ate well too, and I'm paying for that now, but it was worth every bite.

This past Sat. I did 10 miles in the group run. Boy, 10 is a lot worse than 8, making me pretty darned worried about 13.1. 10 is the most we do during training.. I guess they figure if we knew how bad 13.1 was we'd quit!

Just learned I'm invited to a special reception the night before the race in San Francisco to honor the top fundraisers! Without you, I'd be nothing, so GRAZIE INFINITE, or thanks so much.

9/7/09

I know you guys (both of you who check this page occasionally) are wondering where in the world I have been! Sorry for the lack of updates. There really has been a lot going on and even more to come!

Training is going well, but I've had some personal and work stresses that have made the difficult even difficulter. This too shall pass!! This past Sat. it was raining so I skipped the Pass Christian group run and did, get this, 10 miles ON THE TREADMILL! How boring is that? Esp. with my slo woggle. (The term I have come up with to describe my gait--part walk, part jog, part waddle.) It was my first 10 miler, and I'm still sore. I had gotten acclimated to 8 miles and was feeling pretty confident about the 13 miles but now? Not so much.

Another challenge to the next couple of weeks training..tomorrow I leave for Europe for 16 days!! Vienna, Venice and Rome. Can I make myself stick to my training? Will I gain 10 pounds eating gelato and pasta? Stay tuned.

8/11/09

Good news abounds! Felder got over his illness and is back on track. AND, thanks to all of you I have reached my fundraising goal!! Buddy Gunn and his firm always come thru for me when I need them, whether it's a family problem, a legal problem, or, as here, a request for help. My niece, Angela Guice, stepped up to help and she and her brother Wade are going to cheer me on in San Francisco!! And my lawyer friend Bob Tyler gave the last $175 needed to hit $8k. I'll be running mile 9 for his dad, Bill, who died of colon cancer, like my dad. He was only 49.

Training continues. Sat. we had our group run at 5 a.m. in the pouring rain. And I loved it!! What's going on here? This experience is changing me for the better and I am grateful to be a part of it. GO TEAM!!

8/4/09 Just learned that Felder (at right) is ill and in isolation. They hope and pray it's just a virus, but the threat of relapse is always on the family's mind. His mom asks us to "Please pray that Felder will get over this old bug and be back to normal pretty soon. Please pray that we get back on schedule and stay on schedule and that he feels good and can play with Easton. We still need to see a rise in his counts so please pray for that too."

And I was worrying about my piriformis muscle. If you don't know what that is, donate an extra $50.00. If you do know what that is, donate an extra $50.00. Felder could use it.

7/10/09 When you decide to become a runner at age 56, you learn things you never woulda ever known. Last week I learned that "muscle glycogen depletion" explained my fatigue and inability to lift half of the usual weight at the gym. A few days later, my back went into spasm..a first for me and hopefully a last!! Now i understand what friends and clients with back problems experience and I want no part of it. I think of the young children who suffer from the effects of their disease and the treatment necessary to cure it, who can't remember a day free of disease. But I recently heard of a child pronounced cured of ALL at age 5 and thought. . . those days of sickness will eventually be all forgotten as she leads a life full of the normal everyday pains and pleasures. Normal because of the research conducted by LLS. Now that's what I'm talking about!

6/24/09 Gee it's hot out there trying to train for this thing! I got so many people supporting me now tho that I can't give up! New contributors include Michael Fondren, Judy D'Angelo and Rob Myers. Mucho gracias!

Now, on a more serious note. Did you know that the research LLS does will assist in curing and treating ALL forms of cancer? I am shocked at how many people have had impacted by blood cancers, but ALL of us are personally affected by cancer in the larger sense. So, I'm dedicating my last mile in memory of my father, Wade Guice, who died of colon cancer at age 69..just 13 years older than I am now! He imprinted on my persona the sentiment that "if you're going to be a ditch digger, be the best ditch dinner there is" and would never dream of starting a project he couldn't finish. So, with my dad as my inspriration for that last painful mile, I know I'll be crossing the finish line.

Is there someone you want me to run in memory of? Let me know and I would be proud and honored to run in their memory or honor. My dad has the last mile, and Felder, our honored patient at the right, has the first mile..he and all like him are the reason I'm starting this thing. In the middle, at mile 6, I'll be running for my former sister-in-law, Shirley, who was struck with CML in the prime of her life. That leaves miles 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 (geez that's a lot of miles!!) up for grabs.

6/17/ 09 No offense whatsoever to Becky and Chris Anzalone, but it was kinda embarrassing having a CPA at the top of the list to the side with so many lawyers under their name! So much thanks to Paul Benton, a really nice guy and great friend from WAAAYYYY BACKK for taking over the position. Thanks as well to recent donees Lyle Page, Hickman Goza & Spragins, and Richard "Flip" Phillips.

6/15/09 The donations continue to roll in, and I want to acknowledge all of them!! I now stand at a total of $3,720!! I've received donations from a total of 36 people. In addition to those listed to the side, much gratitude to the following contributors:

Rachel Poulos, Sarah Reese, Amy Bennett

Ray and Sarah Stronsky, Becky Feder, Bill McDonough,

Michael McDermott, Richard Sliman,

Anne & Jerry Husted, Dulin & Dulin, David L. Cobb, Salloum Law Firm, Bob Smith, Scott Welch, Lawrence Tucker,

LoCoco & LoCoco , Hayden Dent, Steve Benvenutti, Dukes, Dukes Keating & Faneca

Thanks to all.