Week Thirteen: Strength Through Adversity

Almost one year ago Loren came to me and said he was tired of not talking about his MS.

Yes, if you are new to the story, my husband Loren has MS.  He was diagnosed 13 years ago and decided that he didn’t want anyone to know. He was concerned people would judge him or treat him differently because of it.  It was something that he wanted to keep very quiet and only close family and friends knew.

Then a year ago, life changed.

With the concern of his company finding out gone, and perhaps a little more maturity with age, he no longer wanted to hide his MS.  He had been leading an extremely healthy life since his diagnosis.  It never slowed him down and he was starting to really appreciate what a blessing that has been.  He also began to realize that others are not so fortunate and it wasn’t right for him to sit on the sidelines doing nothing when he could be a voice for MS and give back to those who need it.

The day he came to me and told me that he had found this relay called MS Run the US and that he wanted to apply to be a part of it, I thought, “fantastic”!  It is a relay that starts in Santa Monica and finishes in New York, crossing the entire United States, raising funds and awareness to help find a cure for MS.  Sounds fun.  Then he told me that he would have to run an average of 190 miles in 7 days.

Say what?

Yes, each segment was an average of 190 miles that are to be completed in 7 days.

That is roughly running a marathon a day for 7 days.

Okay, so now I was a bit concerned.

How was he going to do this?!  He isn’t even a runner!  In fact, he never really liked going out on runs with me….ever.

When he got the news that he was accepted to join the team and was going to run the segment from Lincoln, Nebraska to Des Moines, Iowa, a total of 190 miles, from June 19th to June 25th, it became very real and he started to run.

And run.

And run.

And run.

Today this man is a running machine.  He runs 15 miles like it is nothing and in fact, spent Wednesday running 13 miles in the morning and then another 13 miles in the afternoon.  His segment is now 10 days away and it has been incredible to see how far he has gone.

Even better, along the way, he has raised over $21,000 for MS.

Proud is an understatement.

So here we are, 10 days away, and coming up on our final week at home before he flies out on Father’s Day to begin his running on the 19th.  On June 15th the Figueroa Mountain Tap Room in Los Olivos will be hosting a fundraiser for Loren with 20% of the night being donated to the run.  There will also be a First and Oak Food Truck there who is also donating to the run.  It is family friendly and if you are in the Santa Ynez Valley, I encourage you to attend, have a beer (or 2 or 3) and say hello!  If there is anything my Father taught me, it is that giving back is even better when it involves family and friends.  We hope you can make it!  Here are all the details…

If you are unable to attend due to location but would like to make a donation to the run, you can visit his donation page by clicking here.  Any amount counts and is greatly appreciated!

You can follow along with with Loren as he runs his segment on Instagram at @movingwithms and I will of course be writing a follow up post with photos after his run!

Strength through adversity has been his motto throughout all his training.  It seems to fit his diagnosis, path to talking about it and his commitment to this run perfectly.  Life will always present moments that challenge us.  It is how we handle that challenge the really matters.