Today was a driving day for me so I got to rest and drive the van (for over 4 hours ah). We made it to Chicago (or close to it) and crossed through our first time zone! Everyone did 10 miles today. We also got our first donation from a random person driving by our van and seeing our venmo so that was really cool. They also honked at us when they passed us! On our way here we got stuck in traffic but it wasn’t too bad. There were a lot of 18-wheelers so that was interesting driving with them but we made it! We also passed a lot of wind turbines – and I mean tons! It was so crazy but really cool to see. Now we’re at our host and she made us dinner, so we were able to eat with them! After our dinner, she showed us around her super cool house that used to be an old 1876 general store and now they use it as their house and homestead! Our host, Mary, also shared her story about cancer. She has a rare cancer that only 1 in 600 people get a year. She was given 5 years to live, but is still alive now and we have the great opportunity to meet with her! She shared that of the 600 people who were diagnosed with her cancer that year, she was the only one to live and the year after no one survived. She has 3 daughters (8,9, and 10) and part of the reason she hosts 4K is so her daughters can see that she is loved and that people want to make a difference. It also gives her daughters a huge support group of 4k alumni that will be with them when she is no longer here. She doesn’t think she’ll see them at our age, so having us is something that makes her so happy. After we got to see the house, the girls showed us their favorite park and then we went and got ice cream! We met a group of people there and shared with them what we were doing and they took a picture and wanted to share on Facebook. We had such an amazing evening with Mary and her daughters and I can’t wait to continue to get to know her and her girls. Tomorrow is rest day so we get to spend more time with our host and we’re heading into Chicago to visit the city! Last night was a good night sleep, but tonight we get bunk beds so I’m excited!
1 Comment
Today was a tough day emotionally for some reason, but we got it down and had some extra down time tonight. Our host last night was amazing! She gave us all bags with snacks and wipes to take with us on our journey and her dog was adorable. I got a really great sleep on the couch and am not looking forward to going back to the floor today haha. I dedicated today to my grandma again and our host’s dad named Ralph who unfortunately passed away. Today we ran 8.5 miles in 3 legs and there was a trail on our way that was long enough we were able to do all our miles there. On one of the runs, we ran into a stray dog which was a little scary, but the dog ignored us and it was okay. We also got to run by a train and see it cross the road which was fun! Today felt like it went by really fast. We crossed into Indiana as well and are staying at a church tonight. It is really nice and we were able to take a good shower too :) For lunch, we called a couple of places, but didn’t have much luck so we ended up using a $9 gift card we had and the venmo money with the venmo we put on the back of our van. We had lots of bread and peanut butter and other things that our host from yesterday gave us so we just bought some jelly, turkey, and cheese. I decided on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and it was very good! We got to our host around 4, which is earlier than its been so that was very nice! For dinner, Mary’s parents (my teammate) dropped off some delicious dinner for us to eat and we got to meet with them. They brought Qdoba and I had a little taco, some rice, and queso! Tonight we might stop by a place Mary wanted to show us and then come back and get to bed for a 10 mile day tomorrow. If you're interested in more of what our days looks like, my teammate Dan has been vlogging pretty much everything! He posts it on his youtube channel each day. Feel free to check it out with the button below. Today was day 2 of orientation! When we arrived at Ulman House this morning we got ready for our training run and first run together as a team (5 miles)! Our run took us along the inner harbor to Fort McHenry. It was a beautiful run :) A little hot, but it was perfect!
After our run, we got some snowballs (Basically a snow cone) and I got pink lemonade! Then we got some lunch and brought it back to Ulman House. We have 2 alumni with us right now and they shared what to expect and some tips! One will be with us through tomorrow and another alumni stays with us until Wednesday so we can get the hang of 4k with someone who has done it before. After lunch, we figured out the first aid kit and what is going in our van and then decorated it! It was a lot of fun and I'm sure I'll have more of those photos later. Lastly we got our gear!! I'm so excited to take lots of pictures in my Ulman gear so you will definitely see it. We don't have anything for orientation tonight so I'll be getting dinner at my favorite restaurant (in Baltimore) with my mom, stepdad, and Will (boyfriend). I also have to get to bed early for the first early morning tomorrow with 4k!! First stop, Pittsburgh. Today was orientation and I got to meet my team in person! Everyone is so nice and I am really excited for this adventure. At orientation we got a tour of the Ulman House, went over some key things we needed to know for the run, and practiced asking for donations. There isn't really anything exciting to share today except that I got to meet everyone. Tomorrow will be a little more exciting with orientation before the send off!
Tonight was our send off dinner with family and friends! I was able to bring my mom, stepdad and my boyfriend. We had some delicious dinner and my family got to meet my teammates. We also got to hear a story of someone who was personally impacted by the Ulman Foundation and the strong impact the foundation and the connections he made through the foundation had on him during and after his cancer treatment. He encouraged us for our run and gave us an even stronger why for our purpose of running across the country. Tonight we get some rest for our training run tomorrow and some other exciting things :) Orientation starts tomorrow!! I honestly can’t believe it is actually here - it has been such a long time waiting! A couple of weeks ago I reached my goal of $15,000 ($15,151 to be exact). I am so incredibly grateful for all of you and your amazing support! I can say for sure I wouldn't have been able to do it without you! I’ve been doing lots of running and am so excited to get started and meet my team!
I also will be the director of the team this summer and we will meet with the bike riders and run with them as well in the beginning of July! (It will make our little team bigger!) We will be heading through these states:
Feel free to comment any exciting places we should look for along the way in those states! Also, if you are interested in attending the send off ceremony in Baltimore this Sunday or the welcome ceremony in San Francisco on August 13th, please reach out and we can send you details! My plan is to blog at least something every day - it might not always make it to Facebook, so check here first. We’ll see how it goes, but I’m not sure what to expect yet. There will also be some nights with no internet, so you’ll get 2 days in one sometimes! We have orientation tomorrow and Saturday and then we start running Sunday morning! I’ve already had the opportunity to talk to some of the people we will meet along the way and I’m so excited! Honestly right now it still isn’t feeling real. I also wanted to take a moment to appreciate all the companies that donated this year to help me reach my goal. They are all amazing companies both near Elizabethtown and Chester Springs - make sure to check them out! I have a list of all of them under the 4k tab on my blog. I also want to give a shout out to my team at work! They have given me so much support that I couldn’t stop smiling for a long time. From them allowing me to take all this time off, to my actual coworkers and boss that wished me well and made me feel valued on my last couple of days of work - I am so thankful and look forward to telling them all about it in person when I return as a full time employee!! If you don’t already, make sure to follow 4K for Cancer on Facebook and Instagram to see even more photos and of course I will try and post as much as possible! If you ever want to send a text or message, feel free to do that as well! I might not respond right away, but I will definitely get to it. Just as a reminder of how 4k works in case you forgot - we’ll be running as a team relay style across the country. So I’ll run 2-3 miles at a time with a teammate and then get in the van to wait my turn to go again! We also take turns driving our van so we’ll have lots of built in rest days as well :) We run 6-16 miles each everyday throughout the trip and we have a tiny team of 7 people - but once we meet up with the bike riders we will grow and meet up with them each evening at our host. If you live in any of the states we are running through and want to donate breakfast, lunch, or dinner, I can share what towns we’ll be headed through and see its possible! Everything we do is off of donations, so we wouldn’t be able to do it without amazing supporters! I am so very excited and as I write this my heart rate is rising a little bit because of how excited I am getting that it is here. I hope you’ll be able to follow along and please please feel free to share the blog posts, pictures, stories, and everything with your friends because this trip isn’t just for fun, but to raise awareness for young adults with cancer. Well the past 5 months have been some of the busiest and hardest months I have had in… maybe my life! I just finished the hardest semester I have had yet, but that was my last semester of undergrad. I am officially a college graduate with a bachelors in Data Science! Now, I am already on my journey to receive my MBA (Masters of Business Administration) with a focus in Strategic Leadership. College taught me a lot, but one of the biggest things it taught me is that I love to lead others and I hope to do that as part of a career. I am also very close to my dream/goal job - which is kinda crazy to wrap my head around! I am a Business Intelligence Analyst intern at a company I have been with since May and I love it! My boss and team are amazing and I get to do some pretty cool data stuff. I’m really excited for the next steps in life, but I intend to make sure to live more in the moment. I learned in my first graduate class that my top strengths (a personality type test) have changed since freshman year (how cool!) and that my new top strength is futuristic which means I tend to think and plan a lot into the future. Honestly, that shouldn’t have come as a surprise to me... I mean I have retirement planned out, doesn’t everyone? - I’m just kidding. I know people don’t really plan out retirement in college. I think that was just part of my strength. I want to live more in the moment and enjoy the journey though. Every year we think of a word to live by. It’s like creating goals, but more broad and easier to keep with you. This year my word is Moment. I’m really excited for this one as I run longer, do more yoga, and hope to bring back some more blogs! I want to be in those moments and not think about the next one - how often will I come back to this stage of life… never! On that note, for a specific blog update, I do have a plan for the blog in 2022.I love this blog so much and never want to put it aside, even if that means taking some more time to write because of all the other things I have to do. As of now, the plan is to post every other week with a podcast about every two months. This way I can keep sharing about happiness, but also still focus on my masters degree, full time job, and training for at least 2 hours a day! Sooo training leads me into the news that I will be officially running across the country *for real this time* starting in June. I am soo excited and can’t wait to share it with all of you here. I will still be accepting donations (I increased my goal to $15,000 and I am just under $3,000 away), but if you already donated, PLEASE don’t feel the need to donate again! I am so incredibly grateful for all you have done for me already, but I do hope for your support as I go and that you follow me along! My main source of donations this time around, I hope, will be from companies and from different fundraisers I am able to do. With that being said, if your company has a grant program for non-profits (you might not realize they do) please please check it out! Or, if your company has a matching program and will match your donations, as little as $10 can turn into $20 and help a lot. Maybe then you can even share it with your team and if there are 5 of you and you each donate $10, the Ulman foundation will receive $100! You would be surprised what companies offer, so if you are able to look into that, I would greatly appreciate it! I’m really excited with training officially starting. I will still be dedicating my runs so, If you have someone, please let me know! Also, if I dedicated a day to someone in 2020 and you would be interested in me dedicating a day for the actual run, please also let me know! If you’re wondering, Pieces of Happiness will not turn into a 4k blog this year like it did in 2020. I will continue to post about happiness and things following along that line. I may have an update every once in a while, but it will mostly be happiness. That is except for June 26th (ish) to August 13th (ish) - which is when I’ll actually be running across the country and sharing about that :) Last but not least, if you’re interested in sharing ways you find happiness and would like to be featured on the blog, please reach out! I love to hear ways people find happiness because it is different for everyone and we just need to find what works best for us. I am so excited for the new year! I’m ready for the “new year, new me.” I hope your new year has been going okay and you remember to smile! Hello everyone!! I have an update on my run for this summer! I am super excited to get started! :) They made it so, although it won’t be the same experience, it will still be one to remember! We will still start the same day (June 21st) at 12pm and end on August 8th! I have started looking for some new trails near home and some a little further to see some new sites! Hence the title - I want to go all over the county (and beyond!) If you have any suggestions please let me know!!
We will also still be “with” our team through group chats and weekly virtual team activities! We will still be running the same mileage as if we were running across the country together too! I will be able to update you on what state we would have been in during that time! My mileage will be anywhere from 4 to 16 miles this summer with a marathon on the last day and a few rest days! I hope to vlog some of my experience and update you every day through vlogs! (Yes, I meant Vlog… that is a video blog for those who don’t know! It will be a little more exciting than just reading some words on a screen! 😊) They will be posted on here and on Facebook as well!! I hope you’ll be able to see them and support! Throughout the run, we will also still have mission speakers and dedications. With that being said, if you haven’t given me someone to dedicate a run to, please do!! I would love to hear your story and dedicate a day by writing their/your name on my leg. No need to feel pressured to donate to share, just send me a message! Next summer, if I am able to actually run across the country I will carry that dedication over to the following year and give them two years of dedication! I am SO excited for June 21st and I hope you are too!! Please let me know if you have any questions and send me any dedications! As the time gets closer, I will post more information and keep you updated! Thank you everyone for being so supportive and for all the wonderful messages I received when we got the news that the run is virtual! Have you ever wanted to get into running or be a better runner? You’ve seen people you know go out and successfully run a 5k or even a marathon and probably thought “I could never” or “Maybe one day.” What if that day was today! What if you could learn to run and your motive could be for more than yourself, but for young adults with cancer! For my fundraiser, you get a small personalized training plan from a certified instructor and all the money goes directly to a foundation. This does not happen often so you should probably take the deal now :) Or at least tell that one friend who keeps saying I wish I could run. I Really Am Certified! I should probably give you a little background, so you know that I am actually a certified instructor. I was certified as a running instructor last summer through ASFA (American Sport and Fitness Association) but that didn’t start my running career. I officially started running four years ago as a sophomore in high school. I just started by running 5ks in the area and ran on my own. Later I joined my high school cross country team as a senior and learned how to excel in my running career and how it really works. I even got 7th place in our championship race! High school was so much fun that I went onto college running and ran for my college team. Sadly, I got an injury that didn’t allow me to keep up with the intense practices but after months and months of rest I could finally start running again. I did, however, learn even more within running. When I quit the team, I didn’t want to stop running so I created a running club on my campus and am now the president of the running club. With about 15 regular runners, every week I plan how we’re going to do our runs and do it while having fun. Although that wasn’t enough running for me, I also wanted to teach people how to run and with a new fitness building being built on my campus and openings for instructors, I applied. Now, I have taught running classes for a full semester and have literally seen people go from couch to 5k in my class. I am going into my second semester teaching classes and am training (as you know) to run across the country with a trainer who has taught me even more. When I say you will get personal training, it will be fit for you with things I have personally learned myself and have seen work for other runners. How would this even work? First, send me an email (button below) and we'll set up a time to either talk on the phone or send emails back and forth, whatever you prefer. Even if I know you, I probably don’t know much about your background in running (it’s okay if you have none!) I just need to get an idea of where to start so you aren’t bored! Within a week, I’ll get you your three weeks of training. It will take me a few days to think and plan something that will work best and help you excel the most. Once I get the training to you, I’ll explain it so you understand and always be around for questions. After the first week, we’ll talk about how it went and if we need to make any adjustments. After the three weeks are up, you can decide if you want to do some more training weeks or if you think you can keep it up on your own! We’ll talk about your goals and you’ll be ready to beat that new year’s resolution (for only $30 as a donation if I may add!) So why am I doing this as a fundraiser? I love teaching people to run. It is honestly one of my favorite things to do. I also love planning so all of it comes together. If you have even the slightest interest or want to do just one week to give it a try, please let me know. Not only will this help me with my fundraising, but it is something I truly enjoy doing. Even if I have never met you, consider participating in this fundraiser! I do also have a college discount planned if you're a college student, don’t let the price turn you away!! I really hope I can help you get over the first bridge of a possible running career in the future. Remember anyone can do it, if you just try and through this you can do it with me for young adults with cancer. Where has the time gone? When people said college was going to go by fast, they weren’t kidding. It has been wayyy too long since my last blog post so here I am writing this at 11pm at night. This a short update blog, but don’t worry I’m working on a bigger one to come soon! I am so excited to share with you about my past fundraiser and I can’t wait to announce the future ones as they come! This past month I did a Succulent Fundraiser. Everyone loves plants that don’t die right?! Thanks to the Succulent Source, I had the wonderful opportunity to sell succulents and raise money for young adults with cancer. After a few weeks of having little plants in my room, on the windowsill and on the floor, I was able to raise $370!! I am so thankful to everyone who bought a plant. (If you want to see some of the new plant owners be sure to check out my story on Instagram under the succulent fundraiser tab!) The next fundraiser coming out is a T-shirt fundraiser! As you may know, I am running across America with one of my best friends from college, so I am excited to do this fundraiser with her. Keep an eye out early November to get yours! We’re going to design them next week. Now that you’ve had the fundraiser updates, I’ll give you the running ones! The shin splints are going away. This past weekend I was able to do 6 miles and had very little pain! My plan has gone up to over 20 miles a week and it feels wonderful. Running is becoming easy again and I am so excited for what there is to come. As the time gets closer, I will be posting more training run pictures so you can keep updated! I hope to be able to post more on the blog about what is happening. Next week I am hoping to post a blog post about happiness again. Even in the midst of this, it is important to remember happiness and I can’t wait to share with you about a topic called “bucket filling.” Be sure to check it out to see how you can make others happier and make yourself happy too! I have some exciting news! Next summer (2020), I will be running across America! Yes, you did read that correctly. I am going with a team of young adults from across the country as well as one of my best friends from college! The program is called 4K for Cancer. The most exciting part about this run is that I get to raise money and awareness for young adults with cancer. Did you know that 72,000 young adults are diagnosed with cancer every year? That’s ages 18-24 which is the prime time of learning to live on your own and getting some college debt. Now imagine doing that with cancer?! The Ulman Foundation is the organization that hosts this run and impacts lives of young adults every day. On the 4,000 mile plus journey we will visit cancer centers to meet with patients and give out scholarships to inspire lives. We will also run together as a team and bring awareness for the cancer age that is often forgotten.
By now I am sure you’re wondering how I am going to run across the country. I would be too. The most important thing to note is that I am not alone and am working with a wonderful group of people along the way. We do it in a relay format running 2 miles at a time with a partner. There will be around 30 people on my team, meaning I will get to form some really great friendships. The run lasts for 49 days and has 10 rest days where we meet with the cancer patients. The number of miles a day ranges from six to sixteen miles. We stay in host locations and eat lunch along the road. (There’s a button below if you want to read more about it!) Now I feel like most of you might be wondering why. Why on earth would you want to run that many miles in 49 days? I want to run for my grandfather and for my close family friend, Bill. Some of you may know my cancer story, but honestly I didn’t understand it until this foundation made me aware of it. When I was really young, I lost my grandfather to cancer. I never got to meet him, talk to him, see him smile or laugh, or do anything that my family tells me that he was so special for. Cancer took him away just a few months after I was born leaving me to miss having him as part of my life. Bill, a close family friend, was in my life though growing up. He became the grandfather I didn’t get to have. He loved me, took pride in what I did and supported me through everything. I did get to talk to him, see his smile and hear his laugh, but a couple of years ago cancer took him too. I didn’t realize what was happening at the time. I understood it was cancer from my grandfather, but I didn’t realize that because of it I was going to lose him forever. Every summer we would go up to Maine, something that has been a family tradition since my mom was a kid. Bill would come too and read his book, watch me swim and he made Maine what it was. Now I feel like Maine will never be the same without him. When he was diagnosed with cancer, I didn’t get it, but when we visited him it slowly sank in. It came to the point where I just couldn’t go in to see him because I didn’t want to remember him how he was in the hospital bed because that wasn’t him. He was so much more, so much stronger than what cancer was allowing him to be. In the end, he passed away leaving cancer to win. I don’t want cancer to win and I want people to know they are never alone be spreading awareness. By doing this run I can not only raise money, but raise awareness for the 72,000 families that may feel like they are struggling on their own. In order to run in the summer of 2020, I need to raise a minimum of $4,500. My goal doesn’t stop there though. I hope to be able to raise $10,000 to go to people who are my age with cancer and help them achieve their dreams. Would you be willing to donate? There is a button below where you can see my fundraising link as well as my progress! There is also an address where you can send a check too which is here below: Ulman Foundation, Attn: 4k for Cancer 1215 E Fort Ave, Suite 104 Baltimore, MD 21230 Even if you’re not able to give or don't feel led to, I hope that you will support me by following me here! I plan to post almost every day during the run about my journey and would love for you to be there with me. Make sure to like the link on Facebook to receive updates and follow along! Also, if you are able to share this link with your friends and family I would greatly appreciate it. Remember this is for more than just raising money but raising awareness as well! So please please please pass the word along!! Whether it’s to following along or to donate some money. Finally, if you donate and have a loved one in mind, I would love to dedicate a day to them while I am on the run! I plan to write the names of your loved one on my legs for the entire day to remember them while I am running. That is the least I can do to honor you through this race as well. (If you would like to do that please write their name in the comments on my fundraising website with “dedication day” or, if you write a check, let me know so I can make sure a day is dedicated to them!) If you have any questions too, please comment below!! I love answering questions about the Ulman Foundation and 4k for Cancer! I would also love to talk to you if you want to call as well, let me know!! I am so so excited for this future endeavor and I am so happy that you will be here with me as well to experience it! Don’t forget to like the link on Facebook for updates and share it with your friends and family. |
AuthorCassidy Dunn Categories
All
ArchIves
August 2022
|