As many of you may know, a couple years ago I decided to join Team Challenge. Team Challenge is an endurance training program where participants can sign up to train for a half marathon, triathlon, full marathon, and some other great events. Every participant commits to reaching a predetermined fundraising goal on top of participating in their race. All the funds raised go to the Crohns and Colitis Foundation of America, to help the 1.6 MILLION Americans who suffer from Crohns & Colitis, and to try and fund research for a cure. Now, I want to share my TC story.

Too many bathroom trips

When I started junior year of college, I was sitting in my dorm room one day, pissed off at the fact that I had just made my sixth trip to the bathroom in the last two hours. I checked my email, and saw an email from Team Challenge. I remembered back at the Take Steps walk, where I had talked to some staff from Team Challenge. I had mentioned to my parents that E V E N T U A L L Y I wanted to train with Team Challenge, I wanted to run a half marathon, and I wanted to fight against Crohns and Colitis. Fueled by my post-excessive-bathroom-visits anger, I sent an email, asking when I could join. I found out that the next two events were coming up, The Shipyard Old Port half marathon in ME and the Napa to Sonoma half marathon in CA. I also found out that the group had already begun training, and I would be joining about halfway through their season. Of course that made me nervous and a little intimidated, but I couldn’t stay away. I signed up then and there, and committed to raise AT LEAST $2,500.00 and run in the Shipyard Old Port half marathon.

I remember calling my parents up. Their initial reaction was shock, which soon turned to support. They said they were 100% behind me, and that's all I needed to hear. I began running the next day. I could not even run a mile without stopping, and gasping for air. “Oh God”, I thought, “This is going to be rough.”

Meeting the team

After school ended and after my family and I dealt with the debilitating loss of my grandfather, I decided to attend my first group training run. I was nervous to meet everyone, and I was even more nervous to know that the group was scheduled to run 7 WHOLE MILES that week. It was the mid-season point, and family and friends were invited. I figured this would be a good distraction from the pain of my grandfathers death, and dragged my parents out of the house to head to Lincoln, MA at 6:30 that Saturday morning. We got there, and stretched out. I met my teammates, my coaches and my mentor. I was overwhelmed, yet excited. We headed out for the run, and I actually finished the entire 7 miles!! The most I had done before that was 4 miles, but the adrenaline and the support I got in that amazing team setting really pushed me through. We ate and celebrated, and then we all got into a group and had one of my favorite conversations I have ever been a part of. Everyone went around and said their favorite memory from Team Challenge so far. These memories ranged from having a safe haven with people who understand you, to feeling strength being able to fight back from something that has controlled you for so long. I was inspired, I was in love, I was ready to commit. I signed the official re-commitment form, and headed home, happier and excited than I had been in a really long time.

Group trainings

Each week on, the mileage increased. Each week on, I felt my body strengthen. Each week on, I watched these strangers morph into my friends, then grow into my Team Challenge Family. I knew I made the right decision in joining Team Challenge. On the week we were scheduled to run 10 miles, I was very nervous. It had been exactly one month since my grandfather had passed away, and I was worried I wouldn’t be able to get my head into the game and bang out my run. To top things off, my parents were gone that weekend, and I ached for their good luck and support I had gotten every Saturday morning before I headed out for training. I cried before my run, and I cried on the way home. I was overwhelmed, and I was HAPPY. That training run was my best one of the season; I ran without stopping and kept an 11 minute/per mile pace. My guardian angel had definitely been looking down on me and smiling, pushing me to go faster, harder, stronger. I had hit double digits, and I had CONQUERED them!!! It was at that point that I knew I would be able to complete the 13.1 miles coming up in Maine, I felt unstoppable!

Putting the "fun" in fundraising

With the running under my belt, it was time to look at the other component of Team Challenge: fundraising! This was vital to me, because ALL I CAN EVER HOPE FOR IS A CURE. Friends, family and even some people I hadn’t met donated to me. I was, and still am, overwhelmed at the generosity, love and support that everyone had shown me. For so long, I battled this disease in the dark, ashamed and confused, embarrassed and in pain. Just the fact that I had been able to share my story, and to hear that people had been SO INSPIRED THAT THEY WANTED TO JOIN THE FIGHT had blown me away. I cried often; I laughed often, I FELT SUPPORTED. On donations alone, I had almost raised about $1,800.00! This was great, but it wasn’t enough. I couldn’t keep asking people to donate, without giving them anything in return. I decided it was time to host a fundraiser. The Winthrop Lodge of Elks generously donated a hall, and more than 30 businesses and supporters donated gifts to be raffled off. My family and I bought decorations, and made food. We were ready to host a great fundraiser! We had concert tickets, salon gift cards, gift baskets, sports apparel, jewelry and more to raffle off! It was guaranteed to be a great night, as long as I could get people to show up. I blew up social media, posting almost everyday leading up to the event. My friends and family told their friends and family; we had done everything we could do to advertise besides taking out a local ad in the paper, of course, and yet I was still nervous. Thankfully, tons of people showed up! I had never seen that many people in the hall, it was amazing and overwhelming!

EVERYONE HAD COME TO SUPPORT ME; THEY HAD RECOGNIZED THIS CAUSE AND THEY HAD DECIDED TO STAND BESIDES ME AS I FIGHT IT, HEAD ON. The fundraiser ended up being successful, and one of the best nights I’ve ever had. Everyone had fun, people were happy with the raffles, and we managed to raise about $2,000.00!!! I HAD PRACTICALLY MADE MY GOAL FROM THAT NIGHT ALONE! I went home that night feeling excited, and blessed. The only obstacle left would be conquering the 13.1 miles, which was quickly approaching!

Let's head to Portland

With my fundraising goal met and exceeded, the only thing left was the race itself. On Friday, July 10th, 2015, my mom and I headed up to Maine. I had to be there early, to meet with my team, and my dad, brother, nana, aunt and best friends would be joining us later that night. I had my own cheer squad; man was I blessed! We had even ordered cute t-shirts for them to wear. I mean, when is it more appropriate to have poop on the back of your shirts?

I headed down to the meeting and got to meet everyone from Team Challenge New England! This was so cool, because not everyone had been able to commute to the group trainings. We were all united in this fight, and united finally! Our coaches and the TCNE went over the schedule for the weekend; that night we could head down to the expo, then meet the entire Team Challenge Family (from all over the country, SO COOL), and then tomorrow we were heading out at 5:45, and the race started at 7 a.m. sharp! Then, in typical Team Challenge style, things got emotional and amazing. We were given our certificates of completion, and I even won the best fundraising event of the season award! (Yay for amazing supporters & donators who make a fundraiser that was planned in two weeks so successful!) Then we were to go around and say something about Team Challenge, just like we did at the Midseason celebration. I started it off, with something to say this time. If I had more time to plan, there would be so much more I would say, such as…

"Before Team Challenge, I felt alone. I felt that everyday I was fighting a fight, with no hope for the fight to ever end. Why even bother? There’s no point. Then, I found Team Challenge. From day one, everyone welcomed me in with open arms. Everyone welcomed me not only onto this team, but into this family. I’ve never had such a big group of people who know exactly what we Crohns and Colitis patients deal with on a daily basis. I’ve never been lucky enough to know people who can visualize and feel the pain I’m feeling when I say my stomach hurts, compared to the people who don’t know what we’re going through and say “Yeah, I have a stomachache, too.” This experience has been eye opening. It has given me strength, physically of course, but also mentally. It has given me hope. I’m geared up and ready to keep fighting all thanks to Team Challenge."

We listened to each other, we cried, we hugged. We were ready for tomorrow. I headed back up and the rest of my family had arrived. We walked down to the expo, picked up some great TC gear, and then my mom and I headed into the Inspirational Pasta Party. I carboloaded, and we listened to some peoples stories and met tons of new people. We headed back to the hotel, I said hi to my friends, and I tried to head to bed early. Needless to say, I was up tossing and turning until midnight. So much for getting fully rested.

Bright and early, my alarm went off at 5 a.m.! I woke up my entire family, my pre-race jitters were gone! I jumped around the room, excitement raced through my veins. My family was just as excited, and they helped me get ready and make sure I had everything I needed. My dad even sprayed me with sunblock (excessively, I thought at the time, but I will have to admit that I did NOT end up sunburnt… thanks Dad)! By 5:40, I was finished eating, getting dressed and ready to go! I headed downstairs, where we took tons of photos, and then by 5:55 we were off!

Waiting at the start line, we were all so excited! We stretched, talked, pinned our bibs on, and of course took some selfles! I was so happy that I had this huge support group and team to be running by my side with!

At 7:03, my corral started and we were off! It was warmer than anticipated, and the course was hillier than expected. Thankfully, the hills were only bad in miles 2-4! I switched off between walking and running, pacing myself and taking in the beautiful scenery. The coast of Maine was a beautiful sight! I alternated between running with some fellow TC teammates, and even ran with a random woman too! Everyone was so friendly on the course; everyone knew we were going through this together, everyone had the same goal. I was by myself for a bit, too, which was okay. It helped me clear my head, and helped me stay focused. Around mile 6, I began to lose steam. I took my energy gel, and picked up the pace for a bit.

By mile 8.5 or so, I was ready for it to be over. I was tired, I was sweaty, and I was hungry. It was so hot that my hands were swollen, and the sun beating down definitely proved to be a bigger barrier than expected. I saw two of my teammates up ahead, and hurried to join them. With their support, we pushed through those final 4 miles. As soon as we hit mile 13, we bolted to the finish line. I saw my friends cheering me on, I saw my family with smiles on their face. There was absolutely no better feeling than how I felt crossing the finish line. I had done it. I had conquered my first half marathon. My official time was 2:56:50. As they handed me my metal, I couldn’t believe it. I hugged my family and my friends, we cried and we laughed. We took tons of pictures. The rest of the day was a blur; I ate, got interviewed for Team Challenge’s new recruitment video, and I ate some more. I showered (WHICH WAS THE BEST SHOWER OF MY LIFE, BY THE WAY), I said goodbye to my friends, my coaches, my teammates and mentor, and my family and I headed up to our cottage in New Hampshire to relax. All I could think was, “I did it, I really did it.” I smiled all day, and wore my medal all weekend.

My experience with Team Challenge was the greatest of my life. It pushed my limits, it gave me hope. I met some amazing people. I can proudly say that I am officially a half marathoner, and a TC alumni. I am already registered for my third half marathon with team challenge, The Rock n’ Roll New Orleans half marathon in February 2017, and am committed to raising at least $3,400.00.

When your feet give up, run with your heart.