We all run (or walk) for different reasons. For fitness, for the joy of pushing our bodies, for the friendships nurtured out there on the road with friends, for serenity, because we just can't stop... haha I included the following in my Sauvie Island Half race report, but wanted to post it as a separate topic because this is about someone who runs not only for the joy of it, but for a cause that is important to her. If you have a moment, please read...

After the half, I walked back to my car at the farmer's market and enjoyed some roasted corn on the cob and a salmon burger. While there, I struck up a conversation with a woman who had just finished the marathon and was having lunch with her husband and young son. They were at the next table but hey, I still had my crown on & her son recognized me! We got to chatting, and she was a little disappointed with her results - said she was having some knee pain throughout the race. (I looked up her results and she finished in 4:34). But that is only part of the story. What an amazing woman! Her name is Charlotte Crotty and she is running 14 marathons in 14 weeks to raise money for the National Brain Tumor Foundation. Why 14 marathons?

“It is not a long story“, begins Charlotte, “just a strangely magical one. This summer is the 14th anniversary of my mother’s death. She died of brain cancer. The magic is that she lived 14 years after being diagnosed with Anaplastic Astrocytoma Grade 3, and was told she had no more than 6 months. The final magic to this number is that I was 14 when she disappeared from my life.”

See an article about her here http://www.racecenter.com/blog/2007/06/wom...n-14-weeks.html
(She also ran the Pacific Crest Marathon a couple weeks ago and came in 2nd woman and 9th overall) If you are as inspired as I am, there is a website to make a donation to her cause.