Ready...Set....Go!!

In just a couple hours I'll be driving up to Boston for my annual check-up at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. This is my 4th year of being cancer-free, and not a day goes by when I don't realize how lucky I am.

I'll never forget the day I walked out of the hospital at the end of chemotherapy - The expected feeling of joy was quickly overcome by an overwhelming sense of responsibility. Why was I the lucky one to walk out of there? I was leaving so many friends behind in those infusion rooms and hospital beds. As one of the lucky ones, I knew I now had the responsibility to do what I could with my second chance to help them. I'm not a rich man, nor do I hold any powerful sway in society, so the "easy" solution to give back wasn't an option. Instead, I knew I needed to help them the same way Lance Armstrong's book helped me when I was first diagnosed.

Reading about how someone like Lance came back from his fight with cancer to achieve amazing goals and inspire so many others helped me immensely heading into my own treatments. Now, I know I'm no Lance Armstrong, but if a ordinary Joe like me can do something inspiring for Dana Farber, maybe that story will spread to a few patients there, and they'll be given a little mental boost during their treatments.

Running the 192 mile course of the Pan Mass Challenge has been my goal for the past 4 years, and tomorrow morning I set out to achieve it. I can't thank everyone enough for the outpouring of donations and support via this site over the past few months. THANK YOU!!

Check back here for regular updates on my progress from about 10am on Wednesday to the finish sometime on Friday morning. Wish me luck!!