Family - Auburn Half Marathon

The Auburn Half Marathon is this weekend and the first in my 12in12in2012 campaign.  Why Auburn Megan?  Well, I'll tell you!  Little known fact is that I was the black sheep of my family and was the only sibling that didn't go to Auburn.  I went to Birmingham-Southern College in order to play collegiate soccer.  But Auburn is my Football team of choice.   Additionally, the state of Alabama is home and my heart truly resides there.  The word Alabama literally equates to Family in my head.  And this race and this entire challenge is all about family.  My amazingly fast runner sister, Genny, is running the race with me (God help me) and we'll be staying with my brother Michael (who loved Auburn so much that he went back for a second dose).   My parents are even coming down from Birmingham in order to cheer us on!  There is no better place to launch this challenge then in a place where I feel so supported by my family. 

Many of you know that my oldest brother, Dennis, passed away in 2003.  Because of life and living in different states, it is rare for our family to all be together at once and there is always a painful realization that we will always be missing Dennis.  This race will be one of the first times in a very long time that the remaining siblings will be together with our parents.  It is, of course, bittersweet. 

While my brother did not pass away from anything associated with Cancer, he is always a reminder to me to do whatever I can to prevent someone from feeling the loss that we all have felt.  I'm a believer in Science.  I know that we will eventually find a cure for cancer if we help to give the doctors the tools they need to do so.  We must never lose hope in this.  I believe that running these races and begging people to donate money means that a family somewhere will have a little more time with each other.   I'll happily fight and run hard for those families, starting this weekend!  War Eagle!