Several weeks ago, after we published the story of Wilton resident Lindsay Wheeler, who will be running the 44th Annual TSC NYC Marathon to raise awareness for mental health, GOOD Morning Wilton put out a call for more stories from other residents also planning on running the race this Sunday, Nov. 2. As always, we’re blown away by the causes close to people’s hearts, especially when they’re moved to put in long hours and extraordinary physical effort to train to run 26.2 miles, all with a higher goal, to benefit someone or something else. We started with Wednesday’s stories about two friends, both running to defeat cancer. Thursday we told you about a woman running strides to help her dear friend and others like him who need to relearn how to walk after a massive stroke; and about a man, himself living with MS, but who runs to raise money for people fighting leukemia, just like his 10-year-old step-daughter. Today, the story of a young woman who grew up in Wilton, who will run in memory of someone she lost to leukemia, and who found herself during the process.
Running for a Grandmother She Lost, But Finding Herself
by Shannon Lewis
I guess I’m not technically a Wilton resident anymore (I currently live and work in Manhattan) but I did live in Wilton for some time and I am a graduate of Wilton High School.
At the sake of being long winded, this year will be my second marathon. I ran New York last year as well for a number of reasons. I was a three-sport athlete at Wilton High School and was always very active during my college years and a few years post college. However, as time went by my fitness fell by the wayside and I started feeling generally “gross.” Additionally, my maternal grandmother had recently passed away from leukemia, and it had been very hard on my mother and myself.
One day a co-worker sent an email asking me to donate to her fundraising page for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. She was going to run a 10K in Central Park with the team and was required to raise $500. I promised her I would donate to her race if she could tell me how I could be a part of this. It was exactly what I needed right then.
I had never been a runner, I hated running. I loved sports and was always very athletic, but I was the first person to run and hide under the bleachers or fake an illness when we had to run the mile in gym class. However, I was ready for a challenge, I was ready to get back in shape, and I was happy to do it for a cause that had recently became so close to my family.
So, I joined the team. I trained with them for about three weeks, and ran my first 10K on Saturday, June 8, 2013 in Central Park. To say that I caught the running bug after that would be a gross understatement. I knew I wanted to run at least a half marathon that coming fall. I was going to run the Hampton’s Half. My heart was set. Then maybe…MAYBE the following year, I would consider running a full marathon. I started doing research and the more I read the more I wanted to throw all logic out of the window and just hurry up and run a full marathon THAT fall.
Having been born and raised in Manhattan, before moving to Wilton, I knew that the New York Marathon was the one. In my mind this was something that only needed to be done once, and it had to be New York. And just like that, with a solid three weeks of running under my belt, I signed up for the 2013 New York City Marathon.
I won’t go into much more detail because I can go on forever, but with the help of my friend and family we raised $4,730 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and I finished my first marathon in 4 hours 42 minutes and 25 seconds after only having been a “runner” for five and a half months. I know my grandmother would be proud–she would be proud that I didn’t settle for just doing a half that fall; she was worth a lot more than that to me and to my whole family.
Additionally, I felt like an athlete again, and after having a lifetime of body image issues, I could finally say “This body carried me 26.2 miles,” and how can you not love everything about that?
So yeah….I got a little more into telling this story then I set out to. I will be running again this year for my grandmother, my family, myself, and everyone else who cannot run. It has been one heck of a journey, and I love it.