Sunrise Duathlon

Yesterday I participated in the Sunrise Duathlon benefiting the Hess Cancer Foundation which gives money to families for funeral expenses whose children have died from cancer. This is one of the logos that is on the t-shirts, and Scott asked what "cancer sucks" means. I told him that cancer does suck. I don't work on the cancer (ICS) floor very often and am glad I don't as it is a sad place to work. I feel like we give them medicines that nearly kill them and if they survive that torture, there is a chance they can overcome their cancer. The chemotherapy kills fast growing cells, so their hair falls out, their stomach lining gets eaten away, they get canker sores in their mouth, their hair falls out, etc. It is torture and so painful.
One man spoke after the race, talking about how his beautiful daughter had died from cancer and then they were stuck with a $200,000 medical bill and no way to pay for his daughter's funeral. People from the community stepped in and helped with the funeral expenses. I'm not sure, but he may have been the founder of the organization. Hearing people like him speak makes me analyze what I'm spending my money on and if I could be spending in more Christ like ways. I try to help out those I know who need help, but there are so many with needs.
By the way, I did the International length duathlon-- a 40 K (about 24 miles) bike and a 10 K (6.1 miles) run and took 9th overall (men and women) and 3rd overall for women. This was my best finish ever and I felt great. There were 4 from our team there Ralf, Sue, Chris, and me. Ralf won the over all in International, Chris (18) took 6 in the sprint, Sue took 8th in the International, and I took 9th. I was 3 1/2 minutes behind Sue at the start of the run and closed that gap to a minute ten. It was a great race day for me. Rich and the kids came and watched. Scott participated in the 2 mile fun run. It was non competitive, but for Scott everything is competitive. He had to borrow Ian's shoes as he just had his sandals, and his feet hurt during the walk, so he took them off and walked barefoot.