On October 30th in the Pumpkins in the Park 5k I will not be running alone. Sure, there will be hundreds of others, slapping sneakers on pavement...
but I feel it is the spirit and memory of my friend Zach DeRidder that will join me on this endeavor.

In January of 2009, I lost a friend like no other.
Zach and I crossed paths because we had cancer in common...and he changed my life.

Because he knew his time on earth was short...he used it as fuel to grab more out of life.
He pushed his physical limits, he defied fear and he loved every breath he took in....and every opportunity he was given. Cancer ultimately took his life---but he lives on in the hearts of so many.

One of the things I was truly amazed by was his athleticism in the face of cancer. Even with cancer he became a superhero of an athlete. Not even the legendary Lance Armstrong competed while still actively undergoing cancer treatment. Zach did. And he competed more than a dozen times (triathalons, road races and duathalons)--- and all to prove that the will of the heart and mind can win in the face of anything---even a body riddled with cancer.

After years of illness and two battles with cancer, I believed my inner athlete no longer existed. Long ago, in my teen years, after the onset of chronic illness I had silently accepted a role by the sidelines of any intensely physical pursuits. For me, Zach's ideas challenged everything I knew.

In the last few days of his life Zach didn't bemoan the fact that he was dying. The images that played in his mind and what he spoke of were not those expected of a man confined to a bed and a wheelchair. Instead, they were sentiments of the man he was in spirit--the young and vibrant man who ran for miles and sped away on a bike.

In one of our last conversations he suggested that some day we should go "running together". I knew from what was happening to him- that this would never be. Yet, still I made him a promise that one day we would go running together.

I never knew how that promise would take shape.

Through our time together as friends he constantly encouraged me to do things that scared me. He would look at me and smile and say "why not".

That's exactly how this 5k idea started---why not.
When I first started training, my lungs fought me. Scar tissue and chemotherapy's long-term effects were felt with every attempt I made to even lightly jog. It would have been easy for me to stop and spare myself the pain. The effort seemed too much. And then I thought of the Z-Man...and I kept running.

Does this mean I'm an athlete again? Who knows. My friend Val came up with the term "re-athlete" and maybe that is what I am.

I truly believe I will run this race, not just for him, but with him.

Funds raised from this site will go to the SAMFUND to help support grants and scholarships for young adult cancer survivors (in Zach's memory). As a former grant recipient myself, I can assure you that this is a worthy cause. This organization helps lift up survivors who have been financially derailed by cancer.

Zach, this is for you!