Good Sports

by Budd Glassberg

Reprinted with permission from the Zionsville Times Sentinel on June 21, 2006

Going it Alone with a Bunch of Good Friends

“I'm afraid that some times you'll play lonely games too. Games you can't win 'cause you'll play against you. All alone! Whether you like it or not, Alone will be something you'll be quite a lot" -- Dr. Seuss from "Oh the places you'll go"

“Make friends with pain and you will never be alone" - Ken Clouber

On Friday morning at ten o’clock I will be attempting to travel 100 miles on foot in 24 hours at the Relay for Life at Lions Park here in Zionsville. While it is a goal I am hoping to accomplish, I am not at all confident that I will be successful in this pursuit. My training for it went well until a little over a week ago when all of the miles and efforts wore my resistance down and I had to take a lot of time off from training while attending a cold. I am still not entirely recovered from the congestion so I think my chances of finishing are close to a coin toss.

I have been blessed with a supportive family and many good friends who will be helping me go after my goal by signing up for a time to walk or run with me at the Relay. Their support is certainly appreciated. My chances of finishing would be further diminished without their help. Ultimately though, they can only supply encouragement, companionship, and help with nourishment, fluids and advice. They cannot make my legs put one foot in front of the other, they cannot feel the exhaustion and muscle pain and try as they might, they cannot alleviate the weariness of my effort. The effort is meant to be symbolic. Family and friends supporting cancer survivors can help ease the journey, but ultimately the road is experienced alone by the cancer patient.

After four years of battling breast cancer and a failed second round of chemotherapy, my wife Molly and I traveled to Mexico for an alternative cancer treatment. Molly was having trouble walking at that time. I remember wondering how she could put up with all of the painful prodding and treatments without complaint. I wanted to help more than just support her. I wanted to take some of her pain to give her some relief. That is one desire that could not be awarded. Each of us alone must experience our own suffering. We appreciate what others do for us, but the suffering is something we must experience alone. We came back from Mexico and Molly’s health care workers expected she had two weeks to live. It would be six months later that my wife and mother of my daughters finally suffered no more.

I often dedicate races and new frontier attempts to people who are close to me. My first ultra run was dedicated to my lovely wife Maureen. My only 100 mile run was dedicated to the memory of my mother. My last 50k was dedicated to Dr. Kevin Anderson and the Anti-Mini to my father. This 100 mile attempt is dedicated to the memory of my dearly departed wife, Molly. I believe that the difficulties I experience during this event may be lessened by my knowledge of what she went through in her long fight with breast cancer. I will gain strength from walking past the luminaria in memory of Molly and so many others who had fought the good fight. When it starts to get difficult in the wee hours of Saturday morning, I will remember how hard she fought in order to stay with us a little longer and continue to mother her daughters.

To all of you who have made donations to the American Cancer Society for this Relay for Life I wish to thank you and invite you and all my readers to join us on Friday evening at 9:00 for the luminaria ceremony. I want to thank my teammates in advance for helping in this great cause and supporting me in my quest to do 100 miles. Whether I make it or not, I have never been alone before in such great company.

Budd Glassberg is a resident of Zionsville who is active in the local running community. Visit www.runz.com for reprints of all his columns. You can reach him by email at budd@runz.com.