SAN DIEGO MARATHON

I received the following from Carl Buchin after Kyla and Claudia completed the San Diego Marathon, that they took part in with Fran in their hearts and minds. Again, I thank them for their efforts, and those who supported them, with all my heart.

Steve

First, some numbers: the San Diego marathon had some 17,000 participants, of which 4000 were members of "Team in Training", the group organized by the Leukemia society to raise money for research into blood cancers. Those 4000 people did an amazing job: the total raised by the group effort on this race is 12.5 MILLION dollars. It was awesome to see these dedicated people, who were far from being athletes or regular runners, walk and run 26.2 miles; many many people ran with the picture or name of a victim or survivor of leukemia -- Claudia and Kyla had buttons made with Fran's picture, and the caption: "in our hearts." Seeing so many examples of generosity and pain, it was impossible to avoid tears.

Now as to the race itself, Claudia and Kyla both finished but not without the challenge of overcoming the rigors of the marathon. It began with some of the things that have to be done to manage a race with so many people. I watched C&K get ready at 3:00 a.m., arming themselves wirh layers of clothing, water bottles, and power bars. They left for the race at 4:30, even though the start time for the event was at 6:30. Both were nervous at the thought of being surrounded by so many people; but when the race started, Kyla felt a moment of awe at the sound of so many people beginning such a big effort in the silent darkness of the early morning. But perhaps because of the anxiety of the event, she had trouble keeping food down, and thereafter toughed it out for 26 miles with no food. Claudia, for her part, started with another group after Kyla, and was striding with a lot of energy when I saw her at mile 12. She had picked up her pace to try and intersect Kyla, who wasn't feeling well. But meeting up with someone in a race with 17k is no easy task, and though she took an advance at mile 14, she finished before Kyla, who had had to slow down to keep going. They finished not too much the worse for wear, really exhilarated by the energy they felt from their teams and the spectators.