Congratulations and thank you to Henderson Brothers, Inc. Corporate Team Winner, 2011, for the First Annual Pittsburgh Marathon’s Run for a Reason Spirit Award! |
Pittsburgh Marathon
Register as a Charity Runner/Walker for the 2012 Dick's Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon, Half Marathon, Marathon Relay, and 5K. As a member of our Gilda’s Runners/Walkers Team you will be offered: 1. Weekly scheduled runs, camaraderie and tips to help you cross the finish line! 2. A personal online fundraising page at http://firstgiving.com/gildasclubwesternpa 3. Gilda's Club Technical T-shirt 4. Social opportunities through training 5. Pre and Post Marathon Celebrations 6. Fundraising incentive prize 7. Access to special charity area and Gilda's Club tent at the end of the race 8. Knowledge that you are making a difference in the lives of anyone in the Western, PA region who has been touched by cancer
To register now complete these steps: 1. Fill out our registration form (click for registration form), fax to (412)338-1919 or email to colleen@gildasclubwesternpa.org ***Please do not register for the marthon on the PGH Marathon website. If you have done so already, but still want to be a part of our team, please contact Colleen Dwyer at (412)338-1919 or colleen@gildasclubwesternpa.org
2. Gilda's Club Staff will contact you with more information
3. As a charity walker/runner we are asking that you raise a minimum of $100 for the 5K $400 for the Half Marathon $600 for the Full Marathon $1000 for the Marathon Relay ($200 per person)
4. Once you have raised 75% of your fundraising goal you will be officially registered for your event.
5. Your fundraising minimum of 75% of your goal must be raised by March 1, 2012
Learn about our runners experiences as 2011 Gilda's Runners and Walkers Read about Pittsburgh Post Gazette Contributor, Leslie Rubinkowski's, experience running with the 2011 Gilda's Runners/Walkers at: From the Penn Hills Progress & Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Jan 2011 : Cancer patient learns to keep on walking Gilda's Club support organization 'was my second home' By Patrick Varine Editor, Penn Hills Progress Midway through Pam Baacke’s first attempt at walking the Pittsburgh Half-Marathon in 2009, it started raining. "When that happened, I thought I would never finish," she said. Weather was hardly the only challenge. Just more than a year earlier, the Eastvue resident had been diagnosed with non-small-cell lung cancer. The upper left lobe of one lung and 16 lymph nodes were surgically removed. In addition, Baacke has two leaking heart valves, which her doctors are working to control through diet, medication and exercise. Baacke finished the 2009 half-marathon in less than five hours, and she’ll be back this year, walking not just for herself, but also to raise money for Gilda’s Club, the cancer support organization she called "my second home." Gilda’s Club is named in honor of "Saturday Night Live" alumna Gilda Radner, and was founded by Joanna Bull, Radner’s psychotherapist during her unsuccessful battle with ovarian cancer. Bull, along with Radner’s husband Gene Wilder and film critic Joel Siegel, worked to establish a vibrant support community for cancer sufferers. In 2006, Pittsburgh-area oncology nurse Cynthia Stanish and her husband Al opened Gilda’s Club of Western Pennsylvania in the Strip District. "You get together with people to discuss your cancer and what you’re going through," Baacke said. "From there, I did other events and activities like art workshops, yoga classes and potluck and lecture dinners." Baacke said she was at Gilda’s Club four days a week. "Being a member has been a lifesaver in a way," she said. "Because of the atmosphere, the people, the other members, it’s such a great community and it’s very comfortable. It’s like you’ve known everyone forever, and they’ve known you." Baacke credits Gilda’s Club — and her experience finishing the half-marathon in 2009 — with helping her get through chemotherapy, as well as through her husband’s diagnosis of prostate cancer and subsequent surgery. "You begin to think very differently about life when you’ve been diagnosed with ‘The Big C,’" she said. "You’d be surprised at what (setting a goal like the half-marathon and completing it) does for you, physically, mentally and emotionally." Baacke wears a gold chain around her neck with a single, turquoise bead on it. The bead is from her "beach bracelet," purchased during a vacation she’d taken prior to her cancer diagnosis. After more than two years without a vacation while she was undergoing treatment, Baacke made it back to the beach, where she saved one bead and cast the bracelet into the ocean. "That was a big thing for me," she said. The next big thing kicked off Jan. 8, as Baacke joined Gilda’s Club’s walker/runner group, and began training for the half-marathon in the spring. So what is her advice for first-timers? "To borrow Nike’s phrase, ‘Just do it,’" she said. "Put one foot in front of the other, and keep walking." It is a philosophy that has served her well.  |
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