Last week I was having lunch with a colleague when I received an e-mail that was titled “Running for your friend”.
The message was from a runner in Ohio. He wrote that although we had never met, he had followed my quest on Daily Mile and this blog over the months leading up to the Boston and Pittsburgh Marathons. That quest of course was to honor my good friend Dom by raising both money and awareness as he battled to defeat cancer.
This incredible man then shared with me how inspiring he found our story as he trains for his very first marathon later this year. He wanted to help push me to the goal of raising $26.2 thousand dollars in much the same way I was able to help Gates, Kermit and Father Jonathan finish their 26.2 miles at Pittsburgh.
In an act of true selflessness and sacrifice my new friend and his wife, who have asked to remain anonymous, made a large gift to get us all the way to our goal of $26,200.
What started out back in August as a small idea – to run two marathons in 13 days to help a friend – achieved its goal as quickly and swiftly as it had begun. Through the kindness and generosity of others, together we all came together to make a huge difference in the lives of Dom, Val, Sierra and Nico.
My part was truly the easy part – it was each of you out there who did all the heavy lifting. I have spent the last few days searching for the right words to thank everyone for all that they sacrificed for my good friend.
Days later, I find myself still searching. Perhaps I’ll never find those words. But for now all I can say is a heartfelt – Thank You!
Nine months ago we vowed to kick cancer’s ass 26.2 miles at a time – and together we achieved something that is pretty darn amazing. There is no way that I can truly share with you just how incredibly grateful I am for all of your support. But like all things related to marathon running and training, you have to at least try, I know that much.
So in that spirit, of trying my best, it is time for some formal thank you’s – so strap yourselves in, grab a cup of coffee, this is going to take a while.
To the more than 300 Run for Dom donors and 125 Mile Sponsors – I cannot thank you enough for all of your love and support.
To Nancy at Creative Zip and Pat who gave their time, expertise and talents to launch and host our gift page at www.runfordom.com as well the design work for Run for Dom. Thank you so much – you are the greatest.
To our more than 720 friends on Twitter, 715 on Daily Mile and the hundreds and hundreds of visitors who stop by this space on a daily basis to encourage and motivate me to “keep on going” – you have no idea how much your support has meant over these many, many months.
To Doctor Jim Fernandez at Austin Sports Medicine who took an injured runner who could not run a 1/4 of a mile in December suffering from shin splints and got him through back to back marathons four months later.
To Danica at Chic Runner, Heather at Run Faster Mommy, Lara at Saturday Morning Zen, Trey at Run on Purpose, Ashley at MS Run the US, Jill at Jill Will Run, Sean at Why I Run, Sara at ThewriteSarah, Runnerdude, Runnrgrrl, Brian A., Winston, Caleb, Steve (British Bulldog), Brendan, Vern, Ernesto, Kris, Connie, Pre and all of my “virtual friends” who have made this such a successful effort. I can’t thank you enough for your friendship and ongoing support.
To the Go Girls, Moms for Dom, Cass Brothers, Shirely’s Bus Friends, The supporters of Celebrate Hopewell, Sarah and Tedd Gozur and Bailie Tomlinson (who taught all of us something) – you guys are the best!
To Rob who listened to every idea I had – the good ones, the bad ones, the brilliant ones, the foolish ones and the downright crazy ones. You always took time to help me, support me and truly believed in what I was trying to do. You even ended up running two 5K’s this year! Amazing.
To David in Alabama who released me into the land of social media and social networking. Without you I would have had to ask the 10 people in my life for $3,000 each. Perhaps they should be thanking you too!
To David Griner who has forgotten more about social media than I will ever know – thank you for your guidance.
To my trainer Kerensa who even though I think you stay up at night dreaming up new ways to punish me – making it to Boston would have been impossible without you. Thank you for all the hours of motivation and encouragement.
To family. The Schafers and Marruchellas. The O’Haras, Chupas, Siveretsens and my sister-in-law Kim. To Aunt Martha, The Kavinskys, O’Briens, Richeys and D’Eramos. Without your support, encouragement, help, running shoes, water belts, body glide and running gear – I never would have made it through the races. Thank you for supporting my craziness.
To the Becks, Strobas, Cunninghams and Jolyn who stepped up and went above and beyond to make a difference in the lives of Dom, Val, Sierra and Nico.
To the students at Boston College, UNC Wilmington, North Dakota, Northeastern, Ball State University and the University of Houston who sacrificed beer money …. I mean, money that could have been used for school supplies to support Run for Dom this year.
To the Boston Marathon crew who were there on-course and post-race to support me taking on the storied course from Hopkinton to Boston.
To the Pittsburgh Marathon crew who braved the wind and rain for more than 3 hours to watch me fight to the end of race number two.
To Renee who held things together from Florida. To Howie who donated RFD shirts for our group at the Pittsburgh Marathon.
To old friends who I had not seen in years, but jumped in to support like we had never parted. The Boschis, Egans, Amsterdam’s and Rob Ranzer. Thank you for your support and faith in me that I had what it took to get to the finish lines.
To our new friends in Ohio who made an incredible gift to help my good friend and his family in a time of great need.
To the volunteer Mark at the Pittsburgh Marathon who got the charley horse in my calf to quiet long enough to push through to the finish.
To the cities of Boston and Pittsburgh who opened their streets and their hearts to help root us to the finish of two major marathons just 13 days apart.
To the big man upstairs who when times got the toughest and doubt began to creep into my mind during that final marathon you gave me the strength and the will I needed to get to the finish. Trust that I know the exact moment when you made time for me and showed me the way when I needed you most. I thank you.
To my wife Dawn, who makes me a better person every day just by having you in my life. I can never thank you enough for all of the love and support that you have shown over the last 15+ years. I promise, no marathoning for awhile. (a little while anyway).
I thank each and every one of you for making this effort such a huge success and for helping make a difference for the D’Eramo family.
And lastly to Dom. I want to thank you for granting me the privilege and the honor to run for you. You have taught me more about love, family, dedication, honor, bravery and courage than I could have ever learned in a single lifetime. Keep on fighting Dom, you are the man.
Joe Runs For Dom 