Back From Alaska

[Guest guest]

Hello All,

I've just uploaded 4 photos of our Alaska event. It was the most

memorable race & vacation!

The weather was great - slightly warm, even for this Texas gal -

except on race day. The temperature dropped to 60 degrees, the wind

and rain kicked up and we were wet the entire 13.1 miles. It was

actually much better to run/walk in the cooler weather than in the

heat, so it worked out fine. We beat our time from two years ago by

12 minutes on a much harder trail. There were lots and lots of long

up and down hills, with the last hill at mile 12 (named 'insult

hill') the real killer. We don't have hills in Dallas like the ones

in Alaska. But one foot in front of the other got us to the finish!

(As it does in so many things in life, ey?)

The jacket was a real hit! I had the opportunity to meet some 'old

timers' who'd been racing with TNT for over 10 years. When I showed

them the jacket (all 78 names) and personally thanked them for

helping so many people, most of them teared up. To quote one TNT

coach I met at mile 5: 'You make all of this REAL for me.'

The photo opportunities abounded.

I hope you don't mind, but I left some of you in Anchorage on the

Tony Knowles Coastal highway. Of the 78 names, some were on the

back, some on the sleeves. Those of you on my sleeves really got a

workout, with the wind and rain (Zavie - you were on my shoulder and

it didn't phase you a bit - guess you're used to these short

sprints!). The felt names stayed pinned onto my jacket, but the

colored trim began dropping off at about the 6.5 turnabout point.

So, the entire trail has little colored trim strips now ... a little

memento left for the moose and bald eagles to ponder.

Overall, it was a very emotional race for me. As I was approaching

the mile 6.5 turnaround, I looked up and saw about 20 purple shirts

(TNT colors) running toward me at full speed. I kept thinking - God,

I'm so glad they're here now. If there had been no purple shirts

here in years past, I'm not sure where I would be today. Gleevec

might have taken longer to develop, to get FDA approved, and for me,

another few months might have made a life/death difference. I

thought about my interferon days, when I could hardly lift my head

off the couch and someone else had to prepare my meals (which I

rarely ate), and how much better life is taking Gleevec. Never in a

million years did I dream that I would be running/walking a 1/2

marathon, but there I was.

I thought about Hunter, my 10 year old friend in Missouri with ALL, I

thought about CML grandmothers who now get to hold their

grandchildren because of Gleevec, I thought about Dane and his BMT, I

thought about all of you in your thirties, now able to go about your

life because of Gleevec. And I thought of all of you in the BMS and

AMN trials. Hopefully, the $5.3 MILLION collectively raised for the

Anchorage event will go a long, long way to helping all of us.

It was an absolutely incredible experience. Thank you all for

carrying me through!

Love to All,

Gale Bacon

- Living Well With Leukemia