In 2012 I will attempt to finish my first marathon, and not just any marathon, the Boston marathon. I will be running for the Melanoma Foundation, a charity that looks at Melaonma with an upstream focus and created to combat the rising rate of melanoma and melanoma deaths. They provide educational programs targeting the prevention and early detection of skin cancer and melanoma for both children and adults! My goal is to raise $10,000 for them, and any amount helps.You can purchase burpees for $50 each, and there is only 351 343 of them available! I will do all the burpees over the course of the marathon, so the more you donate, the more pain I get to endure :) You can also donate for the heck of it, or because you support the cause but not suffering!

Douglas Raber

Douglas Raber, my daddio, was one super awesome guy. He had a unique taste in clothes, a deep desire to do what he loved and a tenacious love for life. He favorite hobbies were all on the water, whether it be putzing around on his boat, Great White, or on a fishing tour on every vacation, his heart belonged to the salty sea. By day, he was a Nurse Anesthetist, helping tons of people, from children to the elderly, get needed procedures pain free.

In 2007 my dad was diagnosed with ocular melanoma, a rare form of melanoma that they believed was possibly due to the pure oxygen he was given as a premature baby. They were able to remove his eye before the cancer spread to his brain, and we all breathed easy. However, on a Wednesday in March of 2009 I got a phone call that no daughter ever wants to receive - my dad had caner again, except this time it was stage 4 and was in his liver, lungs, hips and spine. He was terminal, and there were no real treatment options. My husband and I flew home that weekend to tie the knot with our immediate families, a decision I am so happy with, as by June, when our original wedding was planned, my dad would not have been able to walk me down the aisle. Through everything my dad never gave up hope, never stopped fighting, and never gave up his love for life, lessons that he has imparted upon me. In July we got a phone call and flew home the next day to say our goodbyes - something that I will always cherish and be grateful for. It is in his memory that I am running Boston.



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