Thank you for visiting my Personal Fundraising Page.
After sitting on the sidelines and cheering on Jay and my brother Matt for a few marathons, I have decided to run the Boston Marathon. I did it many years ago as a bandit runner and wanted to run as an official runner. So, I have partnered up with one of this year's official Boston Marathon Charities, Mass Adoption Resource Exchange. You can see what they are all about to the left, under "About My Charity". I chose MARE because I have seen lots of students throughout the years who have been in tough home situations and a stable home life would have done so much for them, as well as the fact that MARE does a fabulous job finding a place to call home for older, hard to place kids and sibling groups. Also, my sister Rebecca is adopted, and although she joined our family as a toddler, unlike most of the kids at MARE, I do have an understanding of what adoption can bring to a family. So, I am off and running, I will be training through all kinds of weather, different times of day, whenever I can squeeze a run in!
UPDATE!!
My Marathon:
April 18, 2006
Hi Everyone,
I just want to thank you again for sponsoring my efforts to support MARE and run the Boston Marathon. Some of you may have tried to track me Monday on the internet and may have found that I "disappeared". I didn't disappear; I just didn’t make it to the timing mats before they were picked up. I had a good first 10 miles or so, but battled some stomach issues. By mile 13 I was still suffering in the stomach department, so I started to walk, as that felt better than running. I tried to keep a 15min/mile pace. At this point, I started walking with a man who had fought in Iraq-Mike. During his tour he missed his daughter's 11th and 12th birthdays and said that he knew it was the hardest on her, him being away for so long. Over in Iraq Mike broke his hip in a Humvee accident, recovered over there and finished his tour. He said that nothing was keeping him from finishing the marathon. We walked several miles together, as I was walking with him, his determination amazed me and I decided it did not matter how long it took me, I too was going to finish.
Jay was waiting for me at mile 16 with his bright green “Go Deb” sign. He saw the look on my face and said he would walk with me. We talked about how I felt, could I run, or did I want to look for the next T stop. I told him that I was determined to finish, I didn’t’ care how long it took. With jeans, old running shoes and a big backpack Jay walked the next 9.4 miles with me. As we walked up the hills and into
Boston
, we had the street cleanup crews with us, the water stations were essentially gone, and at each first aid station they asked if I was ok- I replied yes, and was just glad that I didn't need their aid! There are so many reasons that I didn't give up. I did not want to come home to Hannah and Lily and tell them that I didn’t finish, I didn't want to go to school after vacation and admit defeat to my students and colleagues, and didn't want to send a "DNF" (did not finish) letter out to you today. I thank you all very much, your support will help so many kids and families who really need each other and that, was the ultimate goal, my ultimate kick that I needed to finish yesterday, in 6hours, 20 minutes.
With gratitude and sore muscles,
Deb Kumar