This is a guest post by first-time full marathoner Lydia Godfrey Donovan.

“Why do you run?”

This is a common question asked of runners because we all have our own personal reasons for loving the sport so much. It’s fun, and many times very inspiring, to find out what really motivates each runner to hit the pavement several times a week, reaching mileage of 26.2 or even more sometimes! “I run so I can eat what I want”, “I run because I can”, “I run because it’s cheaper than therapy”, “I run in memory of a loved one”, “I run to raise money for a great cause”, “I run because I beat a disease”…and so many more, these are just some of the ones that quickly come to mind.

My own reason for running is very personal, “I run to prove to my body that it IS capable of something amazing” (with a little of “so I can eat what I want” & “because it’s cheaper than therapy” too!). My desire to run a marathon in particular has absolutely been fueled by my need to prove this exact statement to my body! I’ve been dealing with Primary Infertility for 4 years now and I am so sick and tired of feeling like my body is failing me time and time again. It’s like my mind and my body have been separated for several years now and it’s time for them to unite for a change!

Although, running for over 4 hours straight will not give me what I have ultimately been longing for, it will bring me a much needed sense of physical accomplishment. It will mean that I set out to achieve a goal for myself that most people would call a little crazy and I will find SUCCESS instead of failure for a change. The training alone has already allowed me to feel some control in my life again after so many years of feeling so helplessly out of control. I think about our TTC (trying to conceive) struggles a lot while I run; I also think about the race day itself. I know that every step I take that day will be empowering, healing and full of reconnection of mind, body and soul for me. This race means so much to me and I know it will be a very emotional finish. There may be some tears of pain, but most will be happy tears of “Wow! Look what you just accomplished!”.

I know I will not be the only woman, or person for that matter, who will be running to prove my same statement to their own bodies. The mental healing aspect of running has been a life saver to me on many occasions and I know many runners have similar experiences. We all face situations we are powerless over, fertility related and beyond, but it’s important to keep perspective on what we DO have control over. I for one, cannot wait for race day to feel a level of accomplishment I haven’t felt in awhile!

Best of luck to all my fellow Columbus Marathon runners, for not only accomplishing your race day goals, but in also finding success in the struggles and challenges life will throw at you! Remember, if life starts to get you down, just throw on those running shoes!

Happy Running!

Matt Cox finishes strong pushing is son, Ben, for Team Benjamin.

This is a guest post by runner Matt Cox.

The Columbus Marathon will be my first ever marathon. Tough enough as that may be, I’m also going to be pushing my disabled son in an adaptive stroller the entire 26.2 mile race.

My son Ben is 7 years old and is mentally and physically disabled. Born with congenital heart and other defects, Ben has endured 14 total operations, including three heart operations and recent hip surgery, which left him in a half body cast for six weeks. Much of the first 18 months of Ben’s life were spent either in a hospital or a doctor’s office. At 3 years old Ben couldn’t even sit up on his own, much less crawl or play like regular kids. Doctors told us if kids don’t walk by 7 years old they never will.

Around that time we found, by accident, the United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Cleveland. UCP’s intensive therapy program had Ben immediately sitting up and crawling within weeks. By age 7 he was walking on his own, something at one time we thought impossible. Ben doesn’t talk, but he has developed a way of communicating with the world that is as effective as it is infectious. Ben has accomplished so much because he is relentless, because he smiles way more than he frowns, and because we have been lucky to find amazing therapy and medical services to help him along the way.

We started Team Benjamin as a way of celebrating Ben’s progress and the progress of so many disabled children who do things every day that their parents at one time thought impossible. Simple things like walking, holding a cup, or pointing a finger. I have pushed Ben in mostly 10k’s, but the Columbus Marathon provided us a great opportunity to try a new challenge and also support Nationwide Children’s Hospital, who perform medical and therapy services for disabled children all across Central Ohio, as well as UCP in Cleveland.

I will never get to play catch with Ben in the back yard, or talk to him about cars, or tie his tie for prom. But I’m just as proud of Ben’s progress as any father would be and running with him is one of the most rewarding things I will ever do. Ben loves the crowds and responds to the applause and well wishes along the way. And I feel good that we’re not hiding behind Ben’s disability but we’re making his life mean something not only to our family but to many others.

A couple weeks ago I had both the pleasure and honor to emcee the Directions for Youth and Families 5K. If you’re not familiar with the organization, take a moment to check them out here. For those of you who have been training for the full marathon or the half – a 5K at this point is akin to a warm-up run, right? It is for me as well…especially after nearly four months of training!

Just five years ago I could barely make it through a moderate two-mile run on a treadmill at the gym. With football or baseball on. In the past month I’ve gone on runs I couldn’t even dream about, ranging from 15-20 miles in length! At the end of every long run I think the same thing: How the heck did I possibly propel my body for that distance? And I wish I knew the answer.

It’s always one foot in front of the other, arms pumping, ignoring my brain telling me I’m tired or it’s time to slow down. You see, I can’t shoot a basketball. My hands are small – too small to grip and throw a football. I’m too short to be a good volleyball player and I’m always relegated to rightfield…even in beer league softball! But running, this I can do. Not well, but I can do it.

To paraphrase an old NIKE slogan, there are clubs you can’t get into, neighborhoods too expensive to live in and schools that won’t grant you admission. But the roads…they’re always open. It sounds corny, trite and a little cliché but it’s true. Even if you don’t excel at certain sports or can’t get accepted into certain sects of society, there’s always running. Some of my best friends and some of the nicest people I’ve met have through running clubs. And at long runs. They may go faster and finish quicker but they want to see me succeed. You, too.

It’s not easy. It’s not always fun. Training for the Columbus Marathon, though, has been an amazing experience. Best of all, I know race day will eclipse all of the feelings I’ve had thus far. If you’re one of the lucky ones running in the marathon or half marathon, best of luck and I can’t wait to experience this phenomenal event with you on race day. If you’re a volunteer – thank you in advance for all of your work on race day. And finally, if you’re someone reading this…remember it wasn’t long ago the short, unathletic guy writing this could barely make it two miles on a treadmill. Let this motivate you, inspire you and hopefully we’ll see you on the open roads soon!

Many of you know that one of my favorite television shows is now in its second season on Showtime: The Big C.

It is a series about a woman in her 40’s who is diagnosed with melanoma and given one year to live. The show deals with the changes fighting cancer bring to her life as well as to the life of her teenage son, her husband, her brother and her neighbor.

It is hard for her to realize she does not have time left. In this season, her new doctor says to her “I’m dying, too. We’re all dying, we just don’t know when it is going to happen.” That thought is very true. We all are going to die.

Every episode of the show deals with different aspects of a cancer patient’s life that are changed, often not for the better. Many of the feelings on the show are the same that I have felt as a cancer patient (and no, I did not cheat on my husband as in the show!)

I have had more than my fair share of medical illness in the last four years: brain cancer, pancreatitis, hyperparathyroidism and breast cancer. I have suffered other losses: my mother dying of cancer at the age of 61, my Godfather dying of cancer at the age of 72.

As the team leader for ROC on!, I have had the good fortune of having co-workers, friends and family members tell me what they like about me and what they remember about me – something that would not happen if they thought I would die in my 80’s of a heart attack.

It has been hard for my parents, my sisters and my cousins that I was given only 5-7 years to live, but the people for which it is the most difficult are my husband and my two children. They do not tell me about how I motivate them, or that they pray for me daily, or that they are having wishes of me beating the cancer on a daily basis, like many team members do. They are trying to live normal lives, just like on The Big C, yet they will suffer the most when I die. They will miss my homemade apple pie, my trumpet playing, me taking them to movies, the zoo, etc., things that are not the same when someone other than your mother does them.

My husband has been my best friend for 23 years. The night before my first brain surgery, he went upstairs and shaved all the hair from his head in support of what I had to face.  He has been bald ever since.

My children are going through the usual difficulties with growing kids and many times don’t seem to like me, but they have helped me with the ROC on! team in any way they find possible: making a jello brain for the celebratory party, painting a desk rock with “ROC on!”, walking a 5K in the rain in their ROC on! shirts.

They do not say it to me, as relatives and friends from across the country do. But they are the ones who love me the most, who will miss me the most and the ones that will keep me fighting until I no longer can.

I have posted on the ROC on! Facebook page a few months ago that every day when I left my house at 6:15 AM for radiation treatment at the James Cancer Hospital for breast cancer, I listened to a song by a famous young musician who is not my favorite, but is my daughter’s favorite. I thought of his song as my battle cry against cancer.

“I will never say never.
I will fight ’til forever.
Whenever you knock me down,
I will not stay on the ground,
(pick it up, pick it up, pick it up, up, up)
and never say never! ”

I am most grateful to my husband, Doug, and to my two children, Becca and Evan.  I will always love them and will always fight any illness to continue to live for them.

ROC on!

(and yes, that is a picture from my initial MRI in 2007)