I survived

Well friends, I might not have been able to walk on Sunday evening, but I completed Capital Challenge Walk MS this afternoon!  Thank you all for the incredible support and love you showed me along the way...including the wonderful "love notes" I received last night.  

With your help, my final fundraising total was $2080.  THANK YOU SO MUCH! I could not have done this without you.

Here are a few of my favorite photos from the event (you can see all my pictures in my facebook album and check out highlights from the weekend in this YouTube video).

Walkers (in orange) approaching the National Cathedral:

Me and my team at the candlelight ceremony last night:

With one of my favorite staff members at the pre-finish (this is 29 miles in, ladies and gentlemen, and we're still smiling):

And on our final walk toward the Capitol Building after lunch:

Again, thank you all from the bottom of my heart.  

Love,

Sarah

Challenge Walk 2011

Well, it's here.  Challenge Walk 2011 kicks off tomorrow morning at 7:00am in Friendship Heights.  In the next two days, I will be walking 50K (31 miles) through Maryland, Virginia, and DC.  I've done the fundraising ($2080!), and I've pretended to do the training.  Now it's time to actually gear up and walk with team Snappy Feet.

I know this weekend will leave me absolutely exhausted, and I know I probably won't be able to move on Sunday afternoon.  BUT I know that Nana would be proud of me, and I know that (as always) I will be inspired by all the amazing people around me.  We'll tell stories and laugh along the way, and I'll leave on Sunday with wonderful memories.

But more importantly, I'll leave knowing that one day no one will hear the worlds "you have multiple sclerosis." Now that's something worth walking 31 miles for.

$2000

Wow! Over $2000 raised for the fourth year in a row.  Thank you to everyone who has helped me so much across the last four years. I couldn't do this without you.

One week to go!

Challenge Walk is a week from tomorrow!  To date, I've raised $1770 to fight for a cure for multiple sclerosis. Thank you all so much for your incredible support.  I could not do this without you.

Thank you:

Joaquin Hernandez

Rea Harrison

Topher Rinek

Jess Shyu

Jess Freifeld

Nichole Hill

Jenny Aronica

Crystal Carpenter

Rachel Van Wert

Scott Castro

Sara Murray

Amanda Sims

Kristy Johnson

Dawn Gunderson Taylor

Rachel Bonds

Christy MacGregor

Steve de Man

Jamie Cintron

Courtney Landy

Mary Via

Bryce Loidolt

Stacy Chudwin

Steph Amann Kapsis

Hayley Steffen

Meral Cultu

Lily Chen

Katherine Roger

McFadden's DC

Kim Paccione

Linan Xiao

Lindsey Walters

Lindy Newton

Kate Richards

Colin Judd

Jess Marker

Owen Willis

JR Fujimoto

Jennifer Paone

Susan Hodge

Mary Ellen Koran

John Kline

Hanseul Kang

RD Leyva

&

Chris Broullire!

Two weeks until Challenge Walk

Well, Challenge Walk is in 2 weeks...and I am so incredibly not ready. As usual, I have forgotten to train and fear many many many blisters on Saturday, September 24.  But I know it will be worth it.  I suppose I should go running tomorrow morning to at least try and get some last minute training/cardio in.

So far I've raised $1560 to fight multiple sclerosis. With two weeks to go, who knows how much more I can raise.

Around the interwebs

Is clinical depression more common in MS patients than in the general population? Yashoda Hospital in Hyderabad research this topic.

Have you heard about the venoplasty procedure? Created by Italian vascular surgeon, Dr. Paolo Zamboni, it is a minimally invasive procedure.  Learn more about the procedure at Moffit Cancer Center & Research Institute here.

Is poor bone health common in people with multiple sclerosis? Learn more here.

I'm working to raise $1500 to fight multiple sclerosis with the National Capital Chapter of the National MS Society.  Please help by making a donation on my personal page.

Interwebs - 7.07.11

The University of Florence finds results from previous studies on the effects of breast feeding on MS relapses to be skewed, finding rather that those who are more sick tend to breast-feed less to begin with.  Read about it here or here.

Dr. Paolo Zamboni's "liberation" treatment for the condition he calls "chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency" to begin clinical trials at Phase I and II levels in Canada. Read the article here.

MS Centre in Scotland to re-open as an independent charity - the Leuchie House in North Berwick, Scotland.  Read about the transition here.

Glycominds Ltd. will be joining clinical trials for multiple sclerosis taking place in the US, and has signed two agreements to that effect.  Learn more here.

Travis White, 61 years old and diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS, is biking across the country, raising funds for multiple sclerosis research.  Read more about Travis, his fundraising, and his trip here.